Pentagon overspent budget by $295 billion

[babylonsister]

Pentagon overspent budget by $295 billion
An auditor's report presented to the US Congress this week reveals inefficient spending and missed deadlines.
By Tom McCawley


The Pentagon has gone hundreds of billions of dollars over budget in recent years on key weapons systems, including aircraft, ships, and satellite, said a government audit. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said for the sixth year in a row that the Pentagon had significantly gone over budget, but according to a report presented to Congress this week, the problem is getting worse.

The Washington Post reports:

The Government Accountability Office found that 95 major systems have exceeded their original budgets by a total of $295 billion, bringing their total cost to $1.6 trillion, and are delivered almost two years late on average. In addition, none of the systems that the GAO looked at had met all of the standards for best management practices during their development stages.

Auditors said the Defense Department showed few signs of improvement since the GAO began issuing its annual assessments of selected weapons systems six years ago. "It's not getting any better by any means," said Michael Sullivan, director of the GAO's acquisition and sourcing team. "It's taking longer and costing more."

The GAO said that Pentagon spending on weapons programs has rocketed to a 20-year high of $1.6 trillion, Agence France-Presse reports. The GAO said a total of 72 programs, including combat ships, fighter jets, and satellites, were over budget.



more...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0403/p99s01-duts.html

[hoosier_lefty]

1. if this was "welfare"...

... that had overspent by that much it would
be the end of the freakin world and media coverage
would be non-stop!

[kentuck]

2. Unreal !

The Pentagon has had an open-ended budget since Reagan. If you recall, they had money in their budget they couldn't spend, at that time. Spend it or lose it, was the advice given to them.

[mediaman007]

3. budget? we don' need no stinkin' budget!

Let's use the military credit card!

And then we're expected to worship these "warriors." Our military is overrated. It's leadership must really suck, if after five years and a trillion dollars it can't complete the Iraq mission. If you can't finish the mission, just maybe you shouldn't take it on.

(Sorry to the vets on this board, but something's wrong if we pour so much money in, and don't get anything for it.)

[lonestarnot]

4. Are they using the front door on this back door tax now?