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bhikkhu

(10,789 posts)

20. It's not that its lost, but rather that the accounting methods are flawed

Sat Nov 30, 2013, 03:10 AM

Nov 2013

there's a good article on it here: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/10/13/7063/pentagons-accounting-shambles-may-cost-additional-1-billion

I know its easy to revert to the "waste, fraud, incompetence, corruption" meme, but its more about using a uniform accounting system, with verifiable paper trails. That's easier said than done; first, how many here keep a general journal for all of their household transactions, and reconcile that every month with accounts in a set of ledger books? I have from time to time, but if you do just that, you still fail an audit if you don't have verifiable paper trails for each and every transaction. Consistent verifiable paper trails is where the military has always had problems, and it doesn't imply theft or corruption so much as lack of institutional awareness of accounting standards. Pretty much every other government agency has met the standards now, just the DOD is left...

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Pentagon can't account for 8.5trillion in the last decade and a half.... [View all] Lobo27 Nov 2013 OP

Start looking in the couch cushions....... JeffHead Nov 2013 #1

Look here's some of it!... PoliticAverse Nov 2013 #2

It wasn't America's money, but what about Iraqi oil paying for the war? Th1onein Nov 2013 #13

Iraqi oil... awoke_in_2003 Nov 2013 #15

roughly 500+ Billion/yr mattvermont Nov 2013 #3

No we're not FKY. Treant Nov 2013 #6

And yet they want the Defense Department to spend more... Lobo27 Nov 2013 #9

Off to the Greatest Pages with ya. n/t truedelphi Nov 2013 #4

They stacked 100 dollar bills on pallets and shipped them to our enemies, trying to buy "friends." blkmusclmachine Nov 2013 #5

And they're trying to steal it out of your Social Security Net, via the "Grand Bargain." blkmusclmachine Nov 2013 #7

It's been LONG overdue for an audit sakabatou Nov 2013 #8

I have been screaming about this on every forum I can for years maindawg Nov 2013 #10

A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money Major Nikon Nov 2013 #11

There's a reason SheilaT Nov 2013 #12

I'm really bad at math. Can anyone help me out here? Fridays Child Nov 2013 #14

Here ya go... Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2013 #17

Malloy is amazing. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #23

He should be on every station in the country. Spitfire of ATJ Nov 2013 #30

It's not that its lost, but rather that the accounting methods are flawed bhikkhu Nov 2013 #20

That's right, of course. But, whenever I see DoD figures, I remember that Robert Fulghum quote. Fridays Child Nov 2013 #22

Those would have to be some damn good cookies. ThoughtCriminal Nov 2013 #32

Maybe. But if they wanted to account for it accurately they could do it. GoneFishin Nov 2013 #28

If you can't account for it, then it fits perfectly under the meme, which includes incompetence Major Nikon Nov 2013 #29

They can say where it went, they just can't prove it sufficiently bhikkhu Nov 2013 #31

Which means they can't say where it went Major Nikon Nov 2013 #33

And that is exactly why we must cut Social Security and Medicare Samantha Nov 2013 #16

How? It's called privatization. The information is proprietary and not public for all intents. Small freshwest Nov 2013 #18

What's The Story Here DallasNE Nov 2013 #19

The story is rather more careless with its claims than the DoD is with its accounting bhikkhu Nov 2013 #21

That's also over 15 years - $550 billion per year jmowreader Nov 2013 #25

If you went back to the Reagan administration it would be worse than that jmowreader Nov 2013 #24

"Seagull Fryer?" another_liberal Nov 2013 #27

Each AN/SPY-1A radar antenna puts out 1.5 million watts of microwave energy jmowreader Nov 2013 #35

Holy Crap!!!! Lobo27 Nov 2013 #37

It's radio waves jmowreader Nov 2013 #38

If they turned these on full power in port, the damage would be incredible. AtheistCrusader Dec 2013 #39

Exactly. Imagine being berthed next to an aircraft carrier and turning this on jmowreader Dec 2013 #40

The money they can account for . . . another_liberal Nov 2013 #26

Congress often forces the Pentagon to buy stuff they don't need. iandhr Nov 2013 #34

Newtie was a huge advocate of doing that jmowreader Dec 2013 #41

K&R ReRe Nov 2013 #36

Well, they can't defend this! QuestForSense Dec 2013 #42