The Missing $21 Trillion

[BluedSteel]

After a minute of reflection I feel compelled to add this: simple incompetence cannot be ruled out.

The DOD is the largest bureaucracy in the world. By far. And while I sincerely believe that we have the world's best armed forces, with many fine and honorable leaders [Gen. Mattis being the poster child of these]; the residents of the inner rings of the Pentagon are not exactly known for being saints. Or effective. Or good decision makers [too many great examples here to cite....]. Moreover, those aiming for the top slots tend to be more politically than martially inclined. With everyone vying for their favorite wonder weapon and boogeyman; accountants, clerks and record keepers tend to get glossed over and swept aside. And overworked and overwhelmed.

Fighting the longest war in U.S. history - asymmetrically and across 6 continents at the same time; could not possibly have made these things better. As for HUD, that has been a contentious scandal-ridden cesspool from the start. I can't imagine having a realistic discussion of their fiasco's without starting a flame war and incensing the Mods.

I think most of us know and believe in the old "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" proverb. As well as "Size Matters".
It just may be that once a thing, a process or an organization gets so big; that good ole' homo sapiens can't keep it under control.

 

[Phase2]

After a minute of reflection I feel compelled to add this: simple incompetence cannot be ruled out.

Divide the number by 1000 and I might believe it is possible. But this is multiple times the entire annual tax base of the US, let alone the budgets of those two departments.

 

[jedi]

ssshhh all of you.
.gov is building a death star and ya dont need to know about it yet.

 

[NKBJ]

This is an amazing story. Still following.
https://usawatchdog.com/federal-accounting-now-meaningless-frightening-catherine-austin-fitts/

 

[jedi]

hum...
that just sounds like an ad to buy gold.
nothing new there. physical gold has always been a wealth keeper.

i just want to know if that 21 trillion is funding my death star or not. dont need a super star destroyer.

 

[JeepHammer]

The army alone admitted to not being able to account for more than 12 billion last year.
The admission was in 2018 after GAO published.
Don't know the specifics time frame those monies went missing, but they admitted to 12 billion over the 2015-2016 operational years.

What a great time to be a major military contractor!
Make enough to buy the government LOCK, STOCK & BARREL! (Pun intended)

I still haven't seen any INGO thread or even mention of the $12 Billion Halliburton couldn't account for but didn't have to pay back and didn't get their military contractor services contracts pulled.

Maybe when the country is completely empty, robbed blind, the new landlord will do a better job running the country...
The current bunch are in office an average of 34 years and have screwed things up entirely.

 

[NKBJ]

On Sept 10th 2001 Rumsfeld only admitted to there being 2.3 trillion missing from the Pentagon.
Can't help but wonder what the amount really was.

 

[BugI02]

Reverse engineering advanced technology costs money

 

[jedi]

sure but not that level unless we got some alien stuff

 

[Phase2]

sure but not that level unless we got some alien stuff

I'd settle for a plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

 

[BugI02]

sure but not that level unless we got some alien stuff

Well, schuh!

 

[BugI02]

I'd settle for a [phased] plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

That you, of all people, would leave that out. Tsk. Tsk.

 

[Phase2]

Ummm... I just assumed it was phased.

 

[BugI02]

Given your INGO name, I thought you'd be all about the phase

 

[NKBJ]

Doubtful it is related to the Space Force. The funds were missing before Trump got into office. Rob Kirby has a different explanation. That amount (or a large portion of it) is being used by the Exchange Stabilization Fund to prop up the dollar. China and other nations have stopped or reduced purchases of US Treasury debt, so who is purchasing them? His answer is the ESF.

I don't doubt that what Kirby has to say on it isn't at least part (of the uses that the missing 21 plus trillion have been put to). The 24/7 markets control is what the ESF (plunge protection team) is all about. And that provides an outlet for part of the continually ramped up generation of debt. On the other hand I do think that has been included in the calculations of where be's dah money.

As regards before Trump entered office, yeah that's the point. The expenditures have been ongoing for decades and ramped up hugely in the last few years pre-Trump. My speculation is that by creating the Space Force the purse strings on the off budget black ops gets brought back under some of the elected representative control where it belongs.

 

[jedi]

no..no...no..
EVERYTHING is trumps fault!
this as well.

 

[worddoer]

hence my wondering if the creation of the "Space Force" as a separate military arm is not actually a path towards bringing the black programs back under control.

"You didn't think they actually spent ten thousand dollars for a hammer and thirty thousand for a toilet seat, did you?"

Judd Hirsch as Julian Levenson, answering the President's question about where the funding for the underground facility at Area 51 came from in Independence Day

Robots won't build themselves.

....or will they.

Reverse engineering advanced technology costs money

Seems obvious to me that none of you have watched the documentary series named "Stargate".

You should all look into this. It is quite educational and interesting. Space and time travel cost big

 

[Leadeye]

I remember in the 70s when Senator Proxmire gave his Golden Fleece award to the navy for the NR-1 submersible, it was an "award" for wasteful spending and was always a media event. At the time almost no one knew that the money was going to an operation to tap soviet phone cables running under the ocean.

 

[Vigilant]

Get AOC on the case, she’ll find it and at it to the $3 Billion she saved her constituency by helping get the Amazon deal 86’d.

 

[Libertarian01]

I am not one to normally criticize Forbes, as it does have a good reputation for money.

However, the ENTIRE US budget for 2015 was $3.688 Trillion. The first paragraph of the article says the US Army (NOT DOD, just Army) had $6.5 Trillion in vouchers.

How in the hell could the Army spend, single handedly, almost double the entire national expenditure???

In a thought, it could NOT! By this logic, the US Army would have wasted about $65 Billion dollars every year for the last 100 years. When in 1915 the entire US military spending was just over $1 billion.

So, if we carry this basic math and cut it in half the years, ever since 1965 the US Army has lost $130 Billion. Folks, Vietnam was expensive, but it wasn't that expensive.

This looks like some sort of Alex Jones nonsense to me.

I skimmed the video. Smoke and mirrors nonsense. He doesn't seem to give any real, cold data that can be reviewed. Lots of stories about how he talked to so-and-so and wanted such-and-such and it never appeared. How the government wanted to do this or that and it never happened. Blah blah blah... Please have this guy refer to a specific government document that can be found, and read that corroborates what he is claiming!

I did look at the link to the DoD FIAR plan for 2015 they referred to. The most money I could see missing is page ES-I. On here it reports $2.2 trillion in assets and $2.4 trillion in liabilities. So that is a (missing?) $200 billion. A lot of money to be sure, but only 3% of the alleged $6.5 trillion.

Regards,

Doug