As long as budgets and debt is on everyone’s mind let us look at a major part of our problem, IMO….
In case you have been remiss and avoided reading IST then you do not know that I have little faith in the War Department and its contractors (read someplace there are about 50,000 of them)…..if you have read my posts then I need explain nothing (and thank you for reading).
Since Reagan more and more of the responsibilities of the Pentagon have been outsourced.
This is a report, granted an old one, that explores the growth of so-called ‘contractors’ for the Pentagon it was published by the Center for Public Integrity in 2004…..and its findings….
The Center examined more than 2.2 million contract actions totaling $900 billion in authorized expenditures over the six-year period from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal 2003 (Oct. 1, 1997-Sept. 30, 2003). Most of the research was focused on the biggest contractors, those that won at least $100 million in prime contracts over the period studied. Some 737 prime contractors, mainly but not exclusively for-profit corporations, fit that criteria, along with several thousand of their subsidiaries and affiliates.
Half of all the Defense Department’s budget goes out the door of the Pentagon to private contractors. This percentage has stayed virtually constant over the past six years; as the Pentagon’s budget has expanded with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so have the dollars going to contractors.
The Pentagon’s contracting force is top-heavy, and growing more so. Out of a total universe numbering tens of thousands of contractors, the biggest 737 collected nearly 80 percent of the Defense Department’s procurement dollars. The 50 biggest contractors got more than half of all the money; the top 10 got 38 percent.
If you want more info (which I doubt will be used)…..
The Biggest Contractors
Competition
Cost-Plus Contracts
Joint Ventures
Foreign Contractors
Political Influence I: Campaign Contributions
Political Influence II: Lobbying
Small Business: Bigger Than You Think
What the Pentagon Buys
The Rise in Service Contracts
Accuracy in Pentagon Reporting
Like I stated it is an old report and since then the budget for the War Department grows and grows and like most government stuff the holes and the problems were given a band-aid so the money continues to flow.
Let’s look at the most recent ‘deal’….
The agreement between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to raise the debt limit for two years, if approved by the House and Senate, will avert a potential economic catastrophe. Biden started off demanding a “clean” debt limit increase with no extraneous provisions. McCarthy sought deep cuts in domestic discretionary spending and large increases in military spending in exchange for raising the debt limit.
The compromise, reached Sunday, includes a small decrease in domestic discretionary spending and a record $886 billion for defense, a 3.3% increase over the current year. The money allocated for the defense budget is exactly what Biden requested in the 2024 budget. Notably, about half of that money will go to defense contractors.
In 2015, the United States spent $585 billion on its military. The United States has added more than $300 billion in military spending in less than a decade. (Had military spending kept pace with inflation, military spending would still be less than $700 billion annually.) Biden has added nearly $150 billion to the military budget since 2021, the last budget approved by President Trump. The budget of the Pentagon now exceeds “the budgets for the next ten largest cabinet agencies combined.” In 2020, Lockheed Martin received $75 billion in government contracts, more than 1.5 times the budget of the entire State Department.
Last year, the United States spent more on its military than the next 10 highest-spending countries combined…
https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense
While most domestic programs are cut to the bone…..the War Department is rolling in cash….now you tell me where the problem is now that you have read this post. (Of course that will depend on the capability to read)
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
This article became useless to me when I tried looking at the links you provided about the biggest contractors and got the following response — “This site can’t be reachedprojects.publicintegrity.org’s server IP address could not be found.
Try:
Checking the connection
Checking the proxy, firewall, and DNS configuration
ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED
The computer will not allow me to access the information contained in the links for some reason.
Beside that, let me add this: “Either we defend our country or we don’t defend our country and I cannot think of a single contractor who will work for nothing — It costs a fortune to keep modifying things for defense and to keep inventing new things for defense …. much the same as in the pharmaceutical business …
If there were no threats to our national security I would say, “Go ahead and either hamstring the Pentagon or get rid of it altogether”
But sadly that is not the case.
What part of Ukraine is defending the US soil? Please do not use Putin possible for running down Main Street.
Most of these ‘threats’ are manufactured to gain profits and the Pentago9n is the biggest hustle around. chuq
Is there a better hustle that could do as good a job?
What good…there could be a better one but it would require people caring more about this country than some mud hole half way around the world…..but I am a realist….that will not happen….greed chuq
I am a subscriber to the Monroe Doctrine
But Ukraine has nothing to do with the Doctrine…..that would be defense….Ukraine is not. chuq
I am a subscriber to the doctrine that we should be concerned with our own defense and let everybody else defend themselves …but since I cannot have it my way then I have to go with whatever I can get — because I can’t change anything …I am eating crow this morning because the debt ceiling thing passed and I had been blogging that it wouldn’t — the good thing is that nobody listened to Trump this time … He had told the rethugs to go for the default and they did not –ha ha ha –Maybe Trump’s ass isn’t as well liked as he thinks he is …
John deep down we knew they would vote this way….they like the headlines and the mike time….it is all a game….an unnecessary game. chuq
You are right the articles from Center for Public Integrity is archived and impossible to get to….sorry about that…..chuq
My question is, “Does America want an effective, modernized defense capability or does it want something like Russia has, some old, half-worn-out Cold War Era garbage that barely works?” (So that more than ever of our precious military warriors can rest peacefully in their graves, never to be forgotten.)
Maybe we should just get rid of the Pentagon altogether and open the doors wide and invite all our enemies to come on in and help themselves to whatever they want!
THe Pentagon can be modernized and effective with funding wars all over the globe. That is silly and a deflection. chuq
Military spending in European countries is small by comparison with America. I read something years ago which summed up the reason for this might have as much to do with Pearl Harbour, as US global expansion. It was titled, ‘The Never-Again Mentality’.
Best wishes, Pete.
Never again is a great tagline that has gotten a lot of mileage over the years. chuq
The Pentagon outsources its needs to contractors for a variety of reasons, including:
To access specialized skills and expertise: The Pentagon does not have the in-house expertise to perform all of the tasks that are required to support its mission. For example, the Pentagon contracts with private companies to provide weapons systems, intelligence analysis, and logistical support.
To save money: In some cases, it is more cost-effective for the Pentagon to contract with a private company than to hire and train its own employees. This is especially true for tasks that are only needed on a temporary basis or that require specialized skills.
To improve efficiency: Contractors can often provide services more efficiently than the government can. This is because contractors are not subject to the same bureaucratic regulations as the government.
The Pentagon’s reliance on contractors has increased significantly in recent years. In fiscal year 2020, the Pentagon spent over $600 billion on contracts, which is more than half of its total budget. This trend is likely to continue in the future, as the Pentagon faces increasing pressure to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
There are a number of concerns about the Pentagon’s reliance on contractors. One concern is that contractors may not have the same level of commitment to the mission as government employees. Another concern is that contractors may be more likely to cut corners in order to save money.
The Pentagon has taken steps to address these concerns. For example, the Pentagon has created a new office to oversee its contracting activities. The Pentagon has also issued new regulations that require contractors to meet certain ethical standards.
Despite these efforts, there is still concern about the Pentagon’s reliance on contractors. It is important to monitor the Pentagon’s contracting activities to ensure that the Pentagon is getting the best value for its money and that contractors are meeting the highest ethical standards.
They can ‘outsource’ all they want it still does not justify the billions they get and the billions they waste…..there is plenty of cash coming to those in charge to make sure nothing changes and the cash keeps rolling. chuq
Can’t do it without cash. Barter is out of the question.