The U.S. military is suffering from a severe accounting deficit.
Via Responsible Statecraft, Nov. 2022:
Last week, the Department of Defense reported that it had failed its fifth consecutive audit…
Only 39% of $3.5 Trillion in Pentagon assets were actually owned by the Pentagon
Pentagon watchers weren’t surprised by the news. The U.S. military remains the only U.S. government agency not subject to a thorough audit.
It was not surprising to some that DoD did not make much progress in its bookkeeping for the year. Only seven of the 27 areas received a clean bill.
F-35, Pentagon’s latest boondoggle has overrun its budget by $165 billion to date. Sens. Jim Inhofe and Jack Reed (D.RI.) are two examples. Jack Reed (D.RI.) and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R.Okla.) stated that each Navy’s eight combatant vessels had a lead vessel at least 10% above budget in 2020, which led to more than $8 billion in additional costs.
Conservatives who want the state to function like a business should be furious at the $886 billion budget request by the U.S. Military for 2023. The military believes it can survive five consecutive failed audits and avoid fiscal reckoning by institutions of public trust responsible for its oversight.
Jon Stewart asked Kathleen Hicks (Deputy Defense Secretary) about the issue. Her answers were unforgiving, defensive, and condescending. The public was not satisfied with her response to questions about how her bosses spent the billions they were given.
The entire clip is six minutes long. This will help you understand Hicks’ arrogance, contempt for the media, and lack of respect for the public. They are often offended by questions about activities funded by the public.
This is a shortened version of Stewart’s questioning, as transcribed and interpreted by Task & Purpose
Even though I may not understand every detail of an audit, I can understand that I’m a human being.
