Obama vs. Pentagon Round 1
According to WIRED mag’s blog, DangerRoom,
In a speech yesterday, Obama said government contracting practices needed to be overhauled to cut back on waste, fraud and abuse.
“Over the last eight years, government spending on contracts has doubled to over $500 billion,” he said. “Far too often, the spending is plagued by massive cost overruns, outright fraud, and the absence of oversight and accountability.”
Lest their be any ambiguity about where the real problem lies, the president took particular aim at defense contracting:
Last year, the Government Accountability Office, GAO, looked into 95 major defense projects and found cost overruns that totaled $295 billion. Let me repeat: That’s $295 billion in wasteful spending. … In Iraq, too much money has been paid out for services that were never performed, buildings that were never completed, companies that skimmed off the top. At home, too many contractors have been allowed to get away with delay after delay after delay in developing unproven weapons systems.
Uggh, fraud and cost overruns make me SICK.
According to WIRED, contractors have already figured out how to SPIN the conversation: they will put the blame for cost overruns not on the contractors, but on the military services for failing to be specific about what precisely they want built or delivered. “I would lead with [telling the government], ‘We waste money because you can’t make up your mind,’” an ex-official suggested.
Without transparency, TRUTH, and honesty, defense contractors could run the US into the ground, FAST.
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