Let any pol try to piss on the 3rd rail. 'Muricans love their "entitlements" that they funded half their lives.
IIRC audits were how we found out about $600 toilet seats back in the 80s. Might've been from one of Sen. Proxmire's Golden Fleece awards
I worked for NOAA and we were audited once a year starting in January-ish. I never asked if it was compulsory or a compliance check. I know the USDA had one as well. Kinda shocking that DOD or US Navy doesn't have an audit. Maybe they weren't asking the right people the question in that article.
I guess this is the best thread I found to bump. China is catching up, we need more Airplaines and less Obamacare! Today's #Dailychart reveals which countries spend the most on their military http://t.co/XPVpTcu122 pic.twitter.com/FnbOIPd7ba— The Economist (@TheEconomist) April 15, 2014
It is infuriating that even my wife buys into that mindframe of "government employees are ineficient and overpaid so we must privatize". Just last Sunday I was correcting her on the issue telling her how the big issue is not salaries or waste, is how resources are allocated to private projects and benefactors, like that nice little stadium that Becks wants on the bay for a modical tax exempetion of $3 or 4 million per year for the next 50 years (that off course will cost double that)...
Meanwhile, the GOP successfully cuts waste intended for inner city moochers... http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/...-food-aid-to-urban-kids-but-cant-explain-why/
http://theaviationist.com/2014/07/04/f-35-grounding-2014/ Here’s the official statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby on F-35 Fleet Grounding: The technical air worthiness authorities of the Department of the Air Force and Department of the Navy have issued a directive to ground the F-35 fleet based on initial findings from the runway fire incident that occurred at Eglin Air Force Base on Monday, June 23. The root cause of the incident remains under investigation. Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data. Defense Department leadership supports this prudent approach. Preparations continue for F-35 participation in international air shows in the United Kingdom, however a final decision will come early next week. /quote
She does not think that government is the problem. As a matter of fact her dad was a public servant in Colombia for 30 years and she benefited from it in several ways. So consciously she does understand the role of government but it has happened that sometimes her reaction to news of "waste" in things like public pensions or a tax hike, mimics that of the most of the populace.
Both of which were launched in 1914-1915 An IJN or USN battleship/BC could also put up a heck of a lot of flack as you said. So they had their purpose. IMO a powerful standing navy is rather important to protect your sea lanes and commerce. A large standing army is useful for one thing- aggressive action.
After 30+ years in the private sector, I'm pretty sure govt employee are no more inefficient than private sector employees.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...3fdb3a-df8c-11e3-9743-bb9b59cde7b9_story.html "The IG found $21.7 million in “potentially excessive payments” for overtime, including one employee who billed $176,900 for 1,208 hours in a 12-day period. That caught investigators’ attention, since the employee was billing for more than 100 hours a day. " Hahaha!!! Caught their attention! I leave out 2 grand from my taxes and some government bean counter will catch it outta 70 million returns but some worker on a Fed contract can list biling for 100 hours or more a day and it goes un-noticed for whatever amount of time. Sheet maing! What a country soN!!!
Did you understand that the employee is a private sector employee and that the IG has to conduct audits after the fact and with limited resources? Off course that does not let the Pentagon off the hook but most likely the guy overseeing the contracts is trying not to hurt his prospects to become a contractor himself...
Doesn't change the price of tea in China for me however! I gives a shit how their process works, all I know is that I will get garnished wages, years later for deductions or earnings I did or did not leave on my return totaling $190 but if someone is actively defrauding our Fed, FOR MILLIONS of dollars, the bean counter down at the local government accounting office specifically assigned to this contract won't know about the scam till the payout was made. Classic.
That's capitalism at work. Those with large amounts of capital influence the procedures & laws so they can keep hold of a large amount of capital.
No, not at all. I am complaining that I took no active approach to defrauding my government from the few dollars they so desperatly need here, where multiple workers are passing bills to be paid out in the thousands and millions of dollars and I am left to wonder which government accounting office do you fear more. The ones that focus on citizens or the one that focuses on giant corporate contracts. Cuz one will get after yo' ass real quick and the other, after readign the article, the other takes their time locating accounting errors.
I'm not convinced that the lack of oversight on the part of the Government representative was willful or intentional. many CORs (contracting officer's representative - essentially the technical person overseeing contract performance) are severely overloaded/overworked. usually, these guys are engineers, scientists, or program managers, for whom their COR duties are "other duties as assigned" - i.e. ancillary to their normal jobs. and anymore, with more and more automated systems coming online (in an effort to increase transparency and obtain a clean audit), much of their time is spent doing mundane, data-entry type of work in the automated systems. doesn't give them a whole lot of time to do actual contractor surveillance and monitor performance. the temptation is to trust the contractor...