8 ms·

Pentagon fails 7th audit in a row but says progress made

118 points by ironyman 2y ago

IncreasePosts 2y ago
Audits are about the journey, not the destination.
- voisin 2y ago
  Maybe it’s all about the auditor friends we made along the way?
- Teever 2y ago
  And it's not a journey that the DoD wants you to ask about either. https://youtu.be/50MusF365U0?si=e6oR6DaYZFaFRQiK https://youtu.be/50MusF365U0?si=e6oR6DaYZFaFRQiK
- lawn 2y ago
  Casual Stormlight Archive reference I see.
  - riffraff 2y ago
    The "journey not destination" meme has been around much longer than that https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/31/life-journey/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/31/life-journey/
    - IncreasePosts 2y ago
      I will confirm that I have no idea what storm light is
    - lawn 2y ago
      Huh, TIL
blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
Is this the only department with this record? It’s astonishing to me that the federal government will spend something like nine trillion this year. Where does it all go? I know we can get high level breakdowns but it just seems insanely inefficient and wasteful just looking at the overall figures.
- emptiestplace 2y ago
  It is all designed to move money.
- dataflow 2y ago
  Just hang tight a few months for our savior, the Doge, to sort it out.
  - fooblaster 2y ago
    or they will just do as they always have, axe social security, education, epa, state department, and increase the 800 lb gorilla that is DoD
    - School-Cotton 2y ago
      Social security was last cut in 1983. Education is funded by the states. The rest of the things you mention are rounding errors in spending.
      - sidewndr46 2y ago
        Everything in the US is funded by the citizens of the states and territories. Outside of the tiny area that is Columbia, the federal government has no citizens.
        School-Cotton 2y ago
        What's your point?
        2y ago
calvinmorrison 2y ago
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government. Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system-ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.
- voisin 2y ago
  Pretty amazing that the military industrial complex was of sufficient importance to him that he used his farewell address to warn against it. And now it is just treated as an absolute necessity never to be scrutinized. I often wonder if spending the money is the point - simply to say “The USA spends more than the next 10 countries combined” with no consideration for whether it is getting more value for the money. Like a startup, could other countries simply be getting significantly more value for their money and so the effective gap isn’t as large as the pure numbers suggest? It comes to mind how the Pentagon running out of ammunition in recent years so to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and US donations.
testfoobar 2y ago
Just to be clear, the US Government isn't stupid - there is a constituency for every single dollar spent. Opaqueness is a feature not a bug.
- arrowsmith 2y ago
  What you call “waste”, someone else calls “income”.
- tapatio 2y ago
  100% I've seen it first hand.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- threeseed 2y ago
  It's like Elon Musk tweeting about how the tax code needs simplifying: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857919131464478752 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857919131464478752 Of course it does. But every loophole and tax break comes with an influential constituency attached to it.
  - mulmen 2y ago
    Influential constituencies like poor people or homeowners or anyone with a 401k.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      I suppose. No one likes to be taxed. But those people aren't rich enough to evade them. Well, most of them.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - 2y ago
russellbeattie 2y ago
If you've never seen the DOD contracts page [1] published daily, it's worth a look. The numbers, as you'd expect, are eye popping. The military industrial complex is chugging along nicely. The DOD has to spend $2.3 billion dollars a day for every day of the year. That's $1.6 million per minute, 24 hours a day. How can they possibly spend that much? The daily contracts page shows you a good chunk of it. And that's just for external expenses - not counting the costs of 1.4 million active service members and their infrastructure and equipment. So, honestly? I'm not super surprised they might have issues keeping track of all that money. 1. https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/ https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/
- yieldcrv 2y ago
  > awarded … for fielding of latticed mesh network to additional space surveillance setwork sites, implementing an unpriced change order definitization action lol
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- mmooss 2y ago
  That's incredible. I've never heard of it - where did you find it?
- credit_guy 2y ago
  > The numbers, as you'd expect, are eye popping. What exactly was eye popping? I took a quick look, and while the numbers are large, I don't have a sense they are larger than they should be. The first for 15-Nov is a contract for roofing for the Army for $99MM. A number of firms are competing for that, and none of these firms sounds like "the military industrial complex". One is Roofing Resources from Pennsylvania. Its page states that it is "certified women-owned small business" [1]. Do you find anything nefarious with that? [1] https://teamrri.com/ https://teamrri.com/
  - ifyoubuildit 2y ago
    Depends. How many square feet of roof are they doing? At $10 per sq ft, thats 10M sq feet. Also, what "small business" is doing those kinds of numbers, especially in a single contract?
Timber-6539 2y ago
Once operationalized DOGE should start their prune exercise with the Pentagon.
- boredatoms 2y ago
  Doge wont go anywhere without members of congress agreeing to spend less money in their states - so its pretty far fetched
- thawab 2y ago
  Pentagon has 23k employees, DOGE need more than 4 years for something like this. My assumptions is that they will focus elsewhere for quick wins.
  - Timber-6539 2y ago
    Key word here being employees. There is no historical precedent for what DOGE has set out to accomplish assuming DJT was actually being serious. Though I would be curious to know where you see them grabbing those said quick wins.
    - thawab 2y ago
      Based on DJT first term, my guesses are: - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - State Department - Science and Public Health Offices - Civil Rights Offices DOGE doesn't have to do something new or significant, all they have to do is to promote it better even if it's the same actions by any republican reaching office.
- riffraff 2y ago
  I bet you a beer Musk and Vivek will not be able to prune anything significant in 4 years, because a) neither has an understanding of how the money is spent b) actual cuts need to be approved by the same people who introduced the expenses in the first place c) they might not even stick around for 4 years.
  - 2y ago

118 points by ironyman 2y ago

IncreasePosts 2y ago

Audits are about the journey, not the destination.

voisin 2y ago
Maybe it’s all about the auditor friends we made along the way?
Teever 2y ago
And it's not a journey that the DoD wants you to ask about either. https://youtu.be/50MusF365U0?si=e6oR6DaYZFaFRQiK https://youtu.be/50MusF365U0?si=e6oR6DaYZFaFRQiK
lawn 2y ago
Casual Stormlight Archive reference I see.
- riffraff 2y ago
  The "journey not destination" meme has been around much longer than that https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/31/life-journey/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/08/31/life-journey/
  - IncreasePosts 2y ago
    I will confirm that I have no idea what storm light is
  - lawn 2y ago
    Huh, TIL

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

Is this the only department with this record? It’s astonishing to me that the federal government will spend something like nine trillion this year. Where does it all go? I know we can get high level breakdowns but it just seems insanely inefficient and wasteful just looking at the overall figures.

emptiestplace 2y ago
It is all designed to move money.
dataflow 2y ago
Just hang tight a few months for our savior, the Doge, to sort it out.
- fooblaster 2y ago
  or they will just do as they always have, axe social security, education, epa, state department, and increase the 800 lb gorilla that is DoD
  - School-Cotton 2y ago
    Social security was last cut in 1983. Education is funded by the states. The rest of the things you mention are rounding errors in spending.
    - sidewndr46 2y ago
      Everything in the US is funded by the citizens of the states and territories. Outside of the tiny area that is Columbia, the federal government has no citizens.
      - School-Cotton 2y ago
        What's your point?
      - 2y ago

calvinmorrison 2y ago

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government. Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system-ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

voisin 2y ago
Pretty amazing that the military industrial complex was of sufficient importance to him that he used his farewell address to warn against it. And now it is just treated as an absolute necessity never to be scrutinized. I often wonder if spending the money is the point - simply to say “The USA spends more than the next 10 countries combined” with no consideration for whether it is getting more value for the money. Like a startup, could other countries simply be getting significantly more value for their money and so the effective gap isn’t as large as the pure numbers suggest? It comes to mind how the Pentagon running out of ammunition in recent years so to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and US donations.

testfoobar 2y ago

Just to be clear, the US Government isn't stupid - there is a constituency for every single dollar spent. Opaqueness is a feature not a bug.

arrowsmith 2y ago
What you call “waste”, someone else calls “income”.
tapatio 2y ago
100% I've seen it first hand.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
threeseed 2y ago
It's like Elon Musk tweeting about how the tax code needs simplifying: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857919131464478752 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857919131464478752 Of course it does. But every loophole and tax break comes with an influential constituency attached to it.
- mulmen 2y ago
  Influential constituencies like poor people or homeowners or anyone with a 401k.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    I suppose. No one likes to be taxed. But those people aren't rich enough to evade them. Well, most of them.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - 2y ago

russellbeattie 2y ago

If you've never seen the DOD contracts page [1] published daily, it's worth a look. The numbers, as you'd expect, are eye popping. The military industrial complex is chugging along nicely. The DOD has to spend $2.3 billion dollars a day for every day of the year. That's $1.6 million per minute, 24 hours a day. How can they possibly spend that much? The daily contracts page shows you a good chunk of it. And that's just for external expenses - not counting the costs of 1.4 million active service members and their infrastructure and equipment. So, honestly? I'm not super surprised they might have issues keeping track of all that money. 1. https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/ https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/

yieldcrv 2y ago
> awarded … for fielding of latticed mesh network to additional space surveillance setwork sites, implementing an unpriced change order definitization action lol
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
mmooss 2y ago
That's incredible. I've never heard of it - where did you find it?
credit_guy 2y ago
> The numbers, as you'd expect, are eye popping. What exactly was eye popping? I took a quick look, and while the numbers are large, I don't have a sense they are larger than they should be. The first for 15-Nov is a contract for roofing for the Army for $99MM. A number of firms are competing for that, and none of these firms sounds like "the military industrial complex". One is Roofing Resources from Pennsylvania. Its page states that it is "certified women-owned small business" [1]. Do you find anything nefarious with that? [1] https://teamrri.com/ https://teamrri.com/
- ifyoubuildit 2y ago
  Depends. How many square feet of roof are they doing? At $10 per sq ft, thats 10M sq feet. Also, what "small business" is doing those kinds of numbers, especially in a single contract?

Timber-6539 2y ago

Once operationalized DOGE should start their prune exercise with the Pentagon.

boredatoms 2y ago
Doge wont go anywhere without members of congress agreeing to spend less money in their states - so its pretty far fetched
thawab 2y ago
Pentagon has 23k employees, DOGE need more than 4 years for something like this. My assumptions is that they will focus elsewhere for quick wins.
- Timber-6539 2y ago
  Key word here being employees. There is no historical precedent for what DOGE has set out to accomplish assuming DJT was actually being serious. Though I would be curious to know where you see them grabbing those said quick wins.
  - thawab 2y ago
    Based on DJT first term, my guesses are: - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - State Department - Science and Public Health Offices - Civil Rights Offices DOGE doesn't have to do something new or significant, all they have to do is to promote it better even if it's the same actions by any republican reaching office.
riffraff 2y ago
I bet you a beer Musk and Vivek will not be able to prune anything significant in 4 years, because a) neither has an understanding of how the money is spent b) actual cuts need to be approved by the same people who introduced the expenses in the first place c) they might not even stick around for 4 years.
- 2y ago