CNN - Panel tallies massive waste and fraud in wartime U.S. contracts

[@DCGoldPants]

60 billion maybe? Think about where that money could have been used properly...OR...not spent at all.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/31/wartime.contracting/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Washington (CNN) -- A nonpartisan panel reporting to Congress says the United States is wasting $12 million a day among contracts issued in support of American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting spent the past three years documenting whether American funding went where it was supposed to. The findings show misdirected money has totaled between $31 billion and $60 billion, and that both the government and the contractors are to blame for fraud and waste.

Commissioner Katherine Schinasi told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that the numbers don't seem to have an impact on people concerned about spending.

To make it easier to grasp the magnitude of the problem, Schinasi said, "we've broken it down to $12 million a day."

"We are wasting $12 million a day," she said, "maybe that will make a difference."

The study looked at contracts from 2001 through the projected end of fiscal year 2011.

Without contract reform and better oversight, future prospects look just as ominous, the panel members warned, as the U.S. considers a role rebuilding Libya in a post-Gadhafi time frame.

Dov Zakheim, a former comptroller at the Defense Department, said he believes the misdirected money is closer to $60 billion, not the low end of the range the panel itself has estimated.

"We also have to think about projects that we start, but are not sure can be finished or sustained," he said. "What is the point of spending hundreds of millions on projects that will then fall into disuse?" he asked, saying the choice then becomes writing off the investment, or "spending taxpayer money for God knows how long, in order to keep the projects going."

The panel issued 15 recommendations for contract reform, including hiring more auditors and analysts to make sure the government gets what was paid for.

The report was delivered to congressional staffers early Wednesday; lawmakers are on summer break.

A paper statement was left with reporters from Rep. John Tierney of Massachusetts, who said the panel's findings "are alarming." Tierney, the ranking Democrat on a House subcommittee that reviews foreign operations, said he will introduce a bill next week "to create a permanent inspector general for contingency operations."

Such a move is among the recommendations of the commission.

Tierney's statement continued: "The kind of waste we have witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be repeated."

The commission was a provision of the 2008 Defense Department budget, mandating an investigation into the reliance on contractors for security, logistics, and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the three-year probe, the panel held 25 formal hearings, and published two interim reports and five special reports to Congress.

Their 240-page final report is online at www.wartimecontracting.gov.

[tdigle]

You're preaching to the choir here, buddy. I don't know how most Americans came to idolize the military and view it as inviolable, but a ton of our problems would be solved if that weren't the case.

[Wrong Direction]

They could remove the word wartime from the title and expand further.

The current contracting climate in government is nothing but a huge boondoggle. It is the direct result of politics over reason. In a nutshell, the crony capitalists beat the unions in a battle that neither should win.

[ABQCOWBOY]

I saw a report on this. Apparently, most of this money went into the pockets of local politicians or Gang Lords of sorts.

[@DCGoldPants]

No, lets leave wartime in there because that's what this particular topic is about.

I want that money back from any contracting firms that fleeced their our Government, and I want any Government officials past or present to be listed for American people. If the money went to locals over there, then you know we're not getting back. But I want to know who gave it to them. Who authorized it. I want to know who's stealing from us. Especially with this line from the article "Without contract reform and better oversight, future prospects look just as ominous, the panel members warned, as the U.S. considers a role rebuilding Libya in a post-Gadhafi time frame."

[Prosperity]

No, lets leave wartime in there because that's what this particular topic is about.

I want that money back from any contracting firms that fleeced their our Government, and I want any Government officials past or present to be listed for American people. I want to know who's stealing from us. Especially with this line from the article "Without contract reform and better oversight, future prospects look just as ominous, the panel members warned, as the U.S. considers a role rebuilding Libya in a post-Gadhafi time frame."

I want their heads on a pike... but then again in our society, stealing from the Public is not seen as immoral, instead it is seen as business acumen... and maybe even the entire purpose of the government to start with

[Bang]

I seem to have been saying this a few threads over.

Government waste and government inefficiency is largely due to people raking the government over the coals at every single opportunity.

There's so many people to blame that blaming the government is sort of like blaming the band-aid for the gash it covers.

~Bang

[Baculus]

60 billion maybe? Think about where that money could have been used properly...OR...not spent at all.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/08/31/wartime.contracting/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

It's war profiteering, and it should be discussed as such.

I remember bringing this up during the Bush years, and the "conservatives" defending such spending; we could have surely used that money here at home, right?

Oh wait, that would be socialism. Never mind.

[DeaconTheVillain]

This story the same week as Dick Cheney's tell all book. Coincidence?

Spoiler:

I hear Cheney confesses to being a night walking vampire who sucks the blood of Muslim children while using Iraqi oil to slick his hair back

[Prosperity]

It's war profiteering, and it should be discussed as such.

I remember bringing this up during the Bush years, and the "conservatives" defending such spending; we could have surely used that money here at home, right?

Oh wait, that would be socialism. Never mind.

Isn't Northern Virginia where all this wasted money goes to? Every ******* and their cousins seem to be some sort of defense contractor

[twa]

You're preaching to the choir here, buddy. I don't know how most Americans came to idolize the military and view it as inviolable, but a ton of our problems would be solved if that weren't the case.

You need to add State dept ,USAID and Intelligence depts

the study is not just on military spending

[SkinsHokieFan]

Here is the dirty little secret

Most defense contractors run Overhead, G+A and fringe rates at or near 100 percent

Lets say a guy makes 100,000 per year, salary. That is an hourly rate of 48 dollars an hour.

A contractor, when they add in their OH costs, fringe costs, G&A costs, state department uplifts (which you can find here) http://aoprals.state.gov/Web920/location.asp?menu_id=95, and fee (which ranges from 7-10%) are charging the government 125 dollars per hour for that person

And the government APPROVES this. There are several government audit arms (DCAA, DCMA) whose sole responsibility is to sit at the contractor's office and audit their rates

Yes, its an incredible waste. Most of this money goes into the pockets of the people living in Great Falls VA. The amount of money a "VP" makes who works for a CSC, Northrup Graummun, LockHeed Martin, Dyncorp, etc, is staggering

[twa]

Isn't Northern Virginia where all this wasted money goes to? Every ******* and their cousins seem to be some sort of defense contractor

Is it?

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/defensemap06.html

[SkinsHokieFan]

Is it?

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/defensemap06.html

It really is in Northern VA.

2 miles from my house is the new Northruoup Headquarters. Right across the street are CSC, and Dyncorp. Between those 3 companies you are talking about 45 billion dollars a year in revenue from the federal government

[Prosperity]

Is it?

http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/defensemap06.html

Virginia has the same amount of DOD spending as California... and California has about 5 times the population

[SkinsHokieFan]

Virginia has the same amount of DOD spending as California... and California has about 5 times the population

Defense spending in CA is going to steadily fall as the contractors located there are all moving to Northern VA

[Prosperity]

Defense spending in CA is going to steadily fall as the contractors located there are all moving to Northern VA

yeah probably, San Diego was the only place that had the NoVa vibe... (well, as far as asking 28-35 year olds what they did for a living)

[twa]

Virginia has the same amount of DOD spending as California... and California has about 5 times the population

Does population matter in defense contracting?

ya'll get a tidy sum in federal contracting as well ,which goes back to the point that this study is NOT just military spending.

[Prosperity]

Does population matter in defense contracting?

yes it does why wouldn't it?

ya'll get a tidy sum in federal contracting as well ,which goes back to the point that this study is NOT just military spending.

military contract spending is the vast majority of all federal contract spending in both CA and VA

[twa]

yes it does

Why?

[Prosperity]

I basically said that this spending is heavily concentrated in one area of the country

you then said no it's not concentrated, and now you say concentration doesn't matter

just so we're clear

if you want to claim that my original point doesn't matter... well I wouldn't really argue that... but it is an interesting point given so many of ES are from NoVa, but your second argument does not negate my argument

[ABQCOWBOY]

Defense Spending has been cut to the tune of 100 Billion in January of 2011, another 350 Billion just last month and another 600 Billion over the next couple of years.

It's all well and good to throw Defense Spending under the bus but lets be real clear here. Defense is the only thing that is seeing major cuts right now. No cuts to social programs. I think they are doing their part at this moment.

[twa]

I basically said that this spending is heavily concentrated in one area of the country

you then said no it's not concentrated, and now you say concentration doesn't matter

just so we're clear

if you want to claim that my original point doesn't matter... well I wouldn't really argue that... but it is an interesting point given so many of ES are from NoVa, but your second argument does not negate my argument

Concentration of spending /= population in wartime contracting or regular defense contracting

I don't like NOVA either,but that is not the problem here....the problem is several different depts not working together or efficiently (DOD,State,USAID and probably more)

and of course Congress is doing it's usual lousy job at oversight.

[@DCGoldPants]

Defense Spending has been cut to the tune of 100 Billion in January of 2011, another 350 Billion just last month and another 600 Billion over the next couple of years.

It's all well and good to throw Defense Spending under the bus but lets be real clear here. Defense is the only thing that is seeing major cuts right now. No cuts to social programs. I think they are doing their part at this moment.

Not sure how this got off track. This isn't about defense spending. This is about fraud. If Harry Reid or Hilary Clinton pointed defense spending to some private company that ended up stealing from us. That billed us too much for services rendered in Iraq or Afghanistan. I'd want that company cut off from any future Government contract, and I'd want Reid or Clinton's faces all over everything associated with this fraud. We all know there are politicians and private firms involved in this. How much did KBR charge the United States for gas or food it never delivered to American troops? What other companies out there did the same?

I want the money back. I want those companies DONE in the United States. I want those thieves known by every voting American.

[bird_1972]

Defense Spending has been cut to the tune of 100 Billion in January of 2011, another 350 Billion just last month and another 600 Billion over the next couple of years.

It's all well and good to throw Defense Spending under the bus but lets be real clear here. Defense is the only thing that is seeing major cuts right now. No cuts to social programs. I think they are doing their part at this moment.

To be fair, DoD is starting from a MUCH higher point then most government. They have a longer way to go, IMO.