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The FY2024 Pentagon budget is 842 billion dollars. The Pentagon cannot pass an audit of its budget to save its life, it's the status quo: https://www.thefiscal

The FY2024 Pentagon budget is 842 billion dollars. The Pentagon cannot pass an audit of its budget to save its life, it's the status quo: https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2019/11/20/Pentagon-Fails-Audit-Again https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2019/11/20/Pentagon-Fails-Aud.... The Pentagon makes tens of trillions of dollars of accounting adjustments each year because its internal financial controls are basically non existent. If the Pentagon was a publicly traded company, Matt Levine would be writing about it as an exemplar of fraud every week and its shareholders would be suing. You're underplaying the corruption by an order of magnitude at least.

gruez 3y ago
>The Pentagon cannot pass an audit of its budget to save its life, it's the status quo: https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2019/11/20/Pentagon-Fails-Aud https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2019/11/20/Pentagon-Fails-Aud.... That's not what the link claims though. >The fiscal 2019 audit examined more than $2.9 trillion in assets and $2.8 trillion in liabilities, the Pentagon said. The process involved about 1,400 auditors conducting 600 site visits, at a cost of nearly $1 billion. Sounds like they can't keep track of all the stuff they supposedly own (ie. "assets"). That's slightly different than its yearly budget simply disappearing. Even if this year they tracked down where every cent went, they'd still fail the audit, because they can't account for the stuff they purchased years ago.
- femiagbabiaka 3y ago
  Granted. But it’s a difference without a distinction. The budget does disappear: into assets and liabilities that are poorly accounted for.
  - naveen99 3y ago
    It still shows up in inflation and interest rates. It’s the same with the national debt. The difference between 24 trillion and 25 trillion is basically just inflation and interest rates.
KptMarchewa 3y ago
The "military audit" is a red herring. No one wants secret programs to be auditable.
- femiagbabiaka 3y ago
  I think we have more options than an unaccountable Pentagon with a revolving door to the Acela corridor or leaking state secrets.

gruez 3y ago

>The Pentagon cannot pass an audit of its budget to save its life, it's the status quo: https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2019/11/20/Pentagon-Fails-Aud https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2019/11/20/Pentagon-Fails-Aud.... That's not what the link claims though. >The fiscal 2019 audit examined more than $2.9 trillion in assets and $2.8 trillion in liabilities, the Pentagon said. The process involved about 1,400 auditors conducting 600 site visits, at a cost of nearly $1 billion. Sounds like they can't keep track of all the stuff they supposedly own (ie. "assets"). That's slightly different than its yearly budget simply disappearing. Even if this year they tracked down where every cent went, they'd still fail the audit, because they can't account for the stuff they purchased years ago.

femiagbabiaka 3y ago
Granted. But it’s a difference without a distinction. The budget does disappear: into assets and liabilities that are poorly accounted for.
- naveen99 3y ago
  It still shows up in inflation and interest rates. It’s the same with the national debt. The difference between 24 trillion and 25 trillion is basically just inflation and interest rates.

KptMarchewa 3y ago

The "military audit" is a red herring. No one wants secret programs to be auditable.

femiagbabiaka 3y ago
I think we have more options than an unaccountable Pentagon with a revolving door to the Acela corridor or leaking state secrets.