I previously wrote a column about how government officials waste billions or plow whole programs in the ground without nary a reprimand. If that column bothered you, you might want to sit down. A new report has detailed how the military has cooked the books to hide trillions, that’s right trillions, in missing money and equipment. The military calls them “plugs,” a curious term for fraud. These are knowingly fake figures used to hide the fact that there is no accurate record of the money. In one finding, a single office in Columbus, Ohio, made at least $1.59 trillion in errors with $538 billion in plugs. The study reveals that government accounting records are fraudulent but that congressional oversight has been equally illusory.
The plugs are generally the work of the office of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Pentagon’s main accounting agency. Required to complete an audit, the staff simply faked the numbers. When taxpayers and citizens do that, they go to jail. Yet, government officials can knowingly falsify reports and figures for billions without fear of discipline or even reprimand. To the contrary, the plugs were approved by their supervisors.
The Army actually lost track of $5.8 billion of supplies between 2003 and 2011 — leaving some units without essential equipment.
Of course, we continue to spend massive amount of our budget on new equipment and military programs — backed up by a massive lobby and industry that thrives on the defense budget. Lost equipment will just have to be replaced and more contracts awarded.
Members are considering legislation to require the government to have audits that are truthful. It is not clear what the requirement was before.
Source: Reuters
If Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman and there was no conspiracy to assassinate John Kennedy why the need for 50 years of secrecy and obfuscation on behalf of the US governemnt?
Pat,
If I recall Caroline Kennedy signed a extension until 2054…..
Anonymously, you wrote: If I recall Caroline Kennedy signed a extension until 2054…..”
By what right does dear Caroline Kennedy have to further withhold evidence in a murder investigation any more than Life Magazine, a corporation, held the Zapruder evidence for so many years.
It is ludicrous. Supposedly the evidence was withheld for a 75 year period of time to protect LHO’s children. From what we were never sure since the govt. and media have expressly named LHO as the lone assassin. Contorting themselves into unbelievable figures as they try to plug the holes in their made for TV theory. But hey, time is on their side and if all Caroline had to do to get an Ambassadorship was sign on the dotted line….well.
MikeS.,
I forgot about that wonder thread you wrote about….. There is a book out about the brothers Dulles:….. The NPR segment was astounding….
“There is a book out about the brothers Dulles”
AY,
I’ll look for it. I learned about them from a book titled “The Secret War Against the Jews”, where they and Prescott Bush played key roles.
Blouise, funny how that brain just up and walked away from the National Archives. The brain is also not available for bullet trajectory for any theory. In another 25 years they are supposed to release the rest of the classified information. I won’t be here but my bets are on total redaction or the documents grew legs just like the brain and have been disappeared by walking out of the National Archives.
Blouise,
I was watching reelz TV and they showed the entire Kennedy miniseries…. I also saw the pbs program and if it was on it about the bullett I missed it as well….
Thanks Mike, that is the article I wanted to reread. As far as the rifle not being tested noted Warren Commission critic Harold Weisberg pointed out that the FBI also did not test the rifle James earl Ray used. Hey, they tested the .273 rifle he returned but not the 30.06 supposedly used.
The thing is Mike, even after all these years I am open to truthful and logical arguments, none have been forthcoming.
As far as this thread I would submit people to look at the web site sftt.org. While the issues have become even more complicated this is what they are still fighting for while the “boys” have their “toys.”
http://sftt.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Basic-Five-5.13.2013.pdf
“While the issues have become even more complicated this is what they are still fighting for while the “boys” have their “toys.”
Pat,
Followed your link and I wasn’t surprised. Every time I see some BS on TV about supporting our troops it pisses me off. We take these very young people, some with out hope for a better chance at life than risking their lives in the military, others infused with a patriotic dream and We (the U.S.) uses them and spits them out with not much to come back to and no benefits like the G.I. Bill in WWII. We deny their PTSD, overwhelm them with endless tours of duty and sing hosannahs to them. However, we fail to equip them properly, let Halliburton electrocute them in showers and fill their bellies with crappy food. We send them out to fight unneeded wars as if they were the Hessians from our revolution. Meanwhile the ranking officers live lives in luxury and retire to work for some defense contractor. As the great General Smedley Butler wrote “War is a racket.”
Mike and Pat,
And we no longer have access to Kennedy’s skull to fully test the latest theory regarding the rear shot.
I don’t think they addressed the rifle in the PBS program but then I tuned in after the first 10 minutes so might have missed it.
I really wish you could see the show, Mike, as I would greatly enjoy discussing it with you. The Kennedy’s gave them permission to view all the photos though they weren’t allowed to take them.
Blouise,
I’ll watch it if my wife is willing to watch it too. One of our old fogie activities is we only have one TV and we watch together. I miss a lot of sports, but gain a lot of good companionship. 🙂
“However, no one has ever explained why the magic bullet was never tested by the FBI for material found in the rifling grooves on that almost unscratched bullet nor why the rifle that supposedly was used was not given an easy test to see if it had been recently fired.”
Pat,
Bingo! You get it, as I suspect so do many others here. This is the guest blog I think you were asking about.
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/03/17/a-real-history-of-the-last-sixty-two-years/
@ Mike Spindell,
” I suspect the Military/Intelligence/Industrial Complex has been in charge since November 22, 1963.”
“For the first twenty-five years after the murder I read and watched everything available on it. Having been convinced that it was a set up job, I haven’t watched/read anything uch since. Nobody has yet come up with a viable explanation of how that magic bullet was fortuitously found on an empty gurney.”
Mike, we view this pretty much the same. I have kept up on the newer material including the PBS show Blouise talks about. However, no one has ever explained why the magic bullet was never tested by the FBI for material found in the rifling grooves on that almost unscratched bullet nor why the rifle that supposedly was used was not given an easy test to see if it had been recently fired. No one talks about the fact that three rifles were found and photographed that day but we are to believe that a poor left handed marksman using a rifle with a defective scope made the shot and took the rifle clip with him.
Mike, it seems to me you wrote on JFK here before and I put the title in the search engine and the article came up. I would like to re-read that article, could you again give me the title?
@Blouise,
“And solidified their hold after 9/11/01.” Yep!
Mike Spindell 1, November 19, 2013 at 4:35 pm
…
Dredd,
Did I miss something? What does my being Jewish have to do with this thread? I’m not offended, just perplexed, what have I missed?
=================================
The comment was addressed to one who calls himself a “Jewish Veteran” on his Twitter link.
And who is an apologist for the corruption of the military even though it is the nation’s greatest danger.
I mentioned you as a person that is not in favor of this corruption.
“The comment was addressed to one who calls himself a “Jewish Veteran” on his Twitter link.”
Thanks Dredd,
I didn’t know that he was Jewish, though he can be summed up in a word of Yiddush origin: Schmuck.
Following up on Jill’s comment at 2:34 pm:
“Judge: “NSA exceeded the scope of authorized acquisition continuously”
New declassifed documents show legal arguments over bulk metadata collection.”
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/11/judge-nsa-exceeded-the-scope-of-authorized-acquisition-continuously/
“When do more people say ENOUGH!?” -Jill
I don’t know, Jill, but this is one of those days when, in my heart of hearts, I’m thinking that it’s “game over.” I hope that I’m wrong – I’d like to be wrong… (Thanks for your comments.)
Imagine if you will, fellow Crimestoppers, all the “accounting plug” opportunities for graft, corruption, death, destruction, record opium crops, and continuing decades of military failure that President Obama’s swell new policy of “Leaving by Staying” will offer the military brass, corporate camp followers, and dogs-of-war mercenaries in Endless Afghanistan
Then, moving on to Africa we have …
Look where else the govt. spends our money and the lying of NSA making oversight a joke: “Newly declassified court documents indicate that the National Security Agency shared its trove of American bulk email and internet data with other government agencies in violation of specific court-ordered procedures to protect Americans’ privacy.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/fisa-court-documents-nsa-violations-privacy?CMP=twt_fd&CMP=SOCxx2I2
When do more people say ENOUGH!?
What itchinBayDog was alluding to is that we call this guy Sinter Klaus because he is so free with his money and says things like “I can’t take without giving back just compensation”. He works for the Pentagon but I don’t think he takes from there. He is also Pastor in a church. This is cash from the flock that they fleece on Sunday. His marina day is always a Monday. He says he works Saturday for the folks at the Pentagon. He has a small plane that he flies down from DC.
Thanks for bringing up this Taking Clause issue. There is a guy who comes to the marina here who works for the Pentagon and pays cash for everything. I wonder if he is part of this “Taking Clause” issue. They are taking from us without just compensation back to us. This is unrelated to Sinter Klaus, which is not even part of the Constitution.
Is that what it takes to get Cheneys daughter in office…. I suppose it’s justified as necessary…..
Reblogged this on Brittius.com.
Infuriating. When my daughter was in Afghanistan mealtimes were cut down (to save money) and those who worked odd shifts missed out on a hot meal. These military accountants can lose trillions of dollars and get away scott free. While food assistance and unemployment benefits get cut, the wasters of the biggest slice of our economy’s budget, let money pour down some huge gaping maw somewhere.
The military and intelligence departments are bureaucracies on steroids, so their waste and fraud is bound to be exponentially worse.