For years I have been preaching that the War Department is in the pockets of special interests and that this organization pisses away more money than any other…..we hear about all the money that is supposedly mismanaged by other offices but very few in Congress have anything to say about the Pentagon.
With the rise of food costs, healthcare sucks, that Congress does not want to tackle they instead reward the War department with a huge budget after it has failed numerous audits.
Despite the Pentagon’s repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, “Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home.”
“Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex with even more unaccountable funds,” they continued. “After a seventh failed audit in a row, it’s disappointing that our amendment to hold the Pentagon accountable by penalizing the DOD’s budget by 0.5% for each failed audit was stripped out of the final bill. It’s time Congress demanded accountability from the Pentagon.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ndaa-2025
With Trump we have 2 czars of spending reduction….does this mean the Pentagon will finally be held accountable?
HAHA!
Not in this lifetime!
Some bitch and moan about all those people getting benefits from the government as a way to piss needed money away and yet could care less that the War Department pisses away money by the buckets full. Why is that?
Something needs doing to rein the defense spending….but that will be for another Congress down the road.
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Politicians have been talking about getting control over the black hole that is the military budget for decades, but no one has ever done more than complain. Every time someone does try to do something about it, the scare mongers ramp up the rhetoric and we end up pumping even more money into that sink hole. It isn’t just the fiascos like the navy’s littoral ship debacle, the horrifyingly expensive F-35 program, the multi-billion dollar bombers that are too expensive and too fragile to actually fly, etc, it’s just about everything. The military budget has turned into a massive slush fund designed to funnel tax payer money into the pockets of the military contractors and the politicians they own. Under the incoming administration it’s only going to get worse. Much worse.
Lobbyists for the industry give millions to politicians to keep the slush fund healthy. chuq
We have people unable to afford to run their heating at home in a cold winter, and using food banks to eat, yet our Prime Minister is in Ukraine and Poland, pledging the new ‘100-Year’ deal for Ukraine with annual payments of billions, and supplying weapons. As you say, there is ‘No accountablility’ there either. Who knows where all the money given to Zelensky has gone?
Best wishes, Pete.
I’m guessing there is several accounts offshore. chuq
One of the best examples of a political process out of control…failing audits yet getting more money to waste? WOW
Just how pathetic….and they say it is keeping us safe…..and broke chuq
Pentagon waste is an outrage esp when it diverts $ from other badly needed matters like elder care out of reach for far too many families to name just one.
Someone needs to step up and work on making the War Department responsible…..but how the hell will it be? chuq
Department of Defense is run by the Secretary of Defense under the president. That is where the change will have to come from.
That whole operation is solely for the benefit of the industry not the security they pretend chuq