Another Bush Disaster

[RunInRed 16,454]

Yes, that's Billion with "B." When does it ever end? 6 months and counting...

United States has not accurately tracked about $6 billion it gave to help the Pakistani government fight terrorism since 2001, according to a report released Tuesday.

Pakistan is the largest recipient of payments from the Coalition Support Funds, which gives money to 27 partner countries to help combat terrorism.

The country, which the Department of Defense considers a key ally in the war on terrorism because of its proximity to large swaths of ungoverned tribal land, has received $5.56 billion of $6.88 billion given out since September 11, 2001.

But a report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs said the Coalition Support Funds cannot prove that the money went to projects or operations specifically fighting terrorists.

While calling the program critical to the war on terrorism, the GAO found numerous concerns about the accuracy of the Pakistani accounting.

"As a result, we conclude that Defense cannot accurately determine how much of the $5.56 billion in costs reimbursed to Pakistan since 2001 were actually incurred," the report said.

The report drew ire from Congress, as some members said Pakistan is bilking the United States to "boost its conventional warfare capability," committee Chairman Howard L. Berman said.

The Department of Defense responded to the report by saying Pakistan has contributed significantly to the war on terrorism but acknowledged some problems tracking the money.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/24/pak...oney/index.html

[bigsixfive 328]

$6B is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount lost in the Department of Education.

[RunInRed 16,454]

How come every time we find fraud in our government, all the Bush defenders jump on the thread with the standard "oh that's just a drop in the bucket." That is not what you would be saying if it was a Democratic administration. All we would hear is how spending is out of control, corruption is everywhere, etc. Any one want to step up and just call this for what it is? As a taxpayer who is against government waste, I'm appalled - maybe I'm the only one.

[bigsixfive 328]

Imagine that, a liberal interpretation of what I said! Read what I said, it was a passing comment. It had nothing to do with Bush. If you really want to know my opinion, here it goes:

Forgive me, but I'm taking Congressional reports with a grain of salt right now. They're completely partisan and have an agenda.

As a tax payer against government waste, you should be appalled that Obama wants to drastically cut military and NASA funding and put that money into the education system... the same system where 1/4 to 1/3 of all funding goes missing.

[RunInRed 16,454]

As a tax payer against government waste, you should be appalled that Obama wants to drastically cut military and NASA funding and put that money into the education system... the same system where 1/4 to 1/3 of all funding goes missing.

link?

[Tigermike 3,046]

How come every time we find fraud in our government, all the Bush defenders jump on the thread with the standard "oh that's just a drop in the bucket." That is not what you would be saying if it was a Democratic administration. All we would hear is how spending is out of control, corruption is everywhere, etc. Any one want to step up and just call this for what it is? As a taxpayer who is against government waste, I'm appalled - maybe I'm the only one.

When corruption in the dim congress has been brought up you didn't want to discuss it did you? When the dims connections to Country Wide was brought up you didn't care to discuss did you? When Obama's people were shown to be connected to Country Wide you didn't care to discuss did you? Just shut your eyes and hope it goes away. Yeah you and your messiah want change don't you?

POT MEET KETTLE!

[RunInRed 16,454]

What do any of those examples you just cited have anything to do with wasting taxpayer dollars?

[Tigermike 3,046]

What do any of those examples you just cited have anything to do with wasting taxpayer dollars?

You can't even keep up with your own rants can you?

How come every time we find fraud in our government,

You brought it up. You opened the door. Deal with it.

[RunInRed 16,454]

What do any of those examples you just cited have anything to do with wasting taxpayer dollars?

You can't even keep up with your own rants can you?

How come every time we find fraud in our government,

You brought it up. You opened the door. Deal with it.

How is Jim Johnson volunteering for the Obama campaign fraud in our government?

[Tigermike 3,046]

What do any of those examples you just cited have anything to do with wasting taxpayer dollars?

You can't even keep up with your own rants can you?

How come every time we find fraud in our government,

You brought it up. You opened the door. Deal with it.

How is Jim Johnson volunteering for the Obama campaign fraud in our government?

Have you ever heard Obama rant about Country Wide?

Is there anything at all Obama could do that you wouldn't defend?

[bigsixfive 328]

As a tax payer against government waste, you should be appalled that Obama wants to drastically cut military and NASA funding and put that money into the education system... the same system where 1/4 to 1/3 of all funding goes missing.

link?

There was a lengthy discussion on this issue a few years ago.

Link

[RunInRed 16,454]

What do any of those examples you just cited have anything to do with wasting taxpayer dollars?

You can't even keep up with your own rants can you?

How come every time we find fraud in our government,

You brought it up. You opened the door. Deal with it.

How is Jim Johnson volunteering for the Obama campaign fraud in our government?

Have you ever heard Obama rant about Country Wide?

Sounds like government fraud to me

As a tax payer against government waste, you should be appalled that Obama wants to drastically cut military and NASA funding and put that money into the education system... the same system where 1/4 to 1/3 of all funding goes missing.

link?

There was a lengthy discussion on this issue a few years ago.

Link

So in anotherwords, you got nothing.

[bigsixfive 328]

There was a lengthy discussion on this issue a few years ago.

Link

So in anotherwords, you got nothing.

Its there, just look. If that doesn't do it for you, here's another awesome resource. In fact, the first thing that popped up in my search indicated $15 Billion, with a 'b', missing. That's a pretty good chunk of a budget that's just shy of $60 Billion, wouldn't you agree? Do you need a link to the $60 Billion figure, too?

[arnaldoabru 11]

What do any of those examples you just cited have anything to do with wasting taxpayer dollars?

You can't even keep up with your own rants can you?

How come every time we find fraud in our government,

You brought it up. You opened the door. Deal with it.

How is Jim Johnson volunteering for the Obama campaign fraud in our government?

Have you ever heard Obama rant about Country Wide?

Technically Tiger you are wrong about Jim Johnson and government corruption. What ever sweetheart deals Jim Johnson may or may not have gotten from Countrywide while he was or was not Chairman of Fannie Mae.

This according to Wikpedia-"Fannie Mae as a (GSE) is a shareholder-owned coporation authorized to make loans and loan garuntees. It is not backed or funded by the US Government."

Is there anything at all Obama could do that you wouldn't defend?

[AUJarhead 70]

As a tax payer against government waste, you should be appalled that Obama wants to drastically cut military and NASA funding and put that money into the education system... the same system where 1/4 to 1/3 of all funding goes missing.

link?

"Barack Obama's early education and K-12 plan package costs about $18 billion per year. He will maintain fiscal responsibility and prevent an increase in the deficit by offsetting cuts and revenue sources in other parts of the government. The early education plan will be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation Program for five years, using purchase cards and negotiating power of the government to reduce costs of standardized procurement, auctioning surplus federal property, and reducing the erroneous payments identified by the Government Accountability Office, and closing the CEO pay deductibility loophole. The rest of the plan will be funded using a small portion of the savings associated with fighting the war in Iraq."

Obama's Plan For Lifetime Success Through Education

See Page 15. I think the big issue, and one that I can't find an answer to, is that NASA wants the current shuttle fleet to retire in 2010, with the Constellation program slated to start in 2015. If Obama delays the Constellation program until 2020, how are we going to be a dominate force in space, if we aren't launching manned missions into space for ten years? Will he ask NASA to extend the current shuttles? Will the engineers who currently work at NASA subcontract with Chinese, much like German scientists did with the US in the 30s and 40s?

[RunInRed 16,454]

bigsixfive...you need to take some lessons. nice work aujarhead.

Didn't Obama give a pledge to Bud Cramer as it relates to NASA funding? I haven't seen anything about cutting military funding. I'd like to see a link on that if any one has it.

[AUTiger1 0]

Uh, Missile Defense and Future Combat Systems all fall within the military budget. He said he would cut those here.

So technically yes, he is cutting military funding.

[RunInRed 16,454]

Uh, Missile Defense and Future Combat Systems all fall within the military budget. He said he would cut those here.

So technically yes, he is cutting military funding.

That's a stretch IMO. Those sound like policy differences with specific initiatives. I wonder if McCain would qualify those as "pork barrel projects?" Anyways, using this example to suggest Obama would make whole sale cuts to the military's budget (i.e., there day-to-day operations) is misleading.

Of course, ending the Iraq war could be seen as a decrease too (even though the war funding is a special appropriation every year and not part of the budget).

[AUTiger1 0]

Uh, Missile Defense and Future Combat Systems all fall within the military budget. He said he would cut those here.

So technically yes, he is cutting military funding.

That's a stretch IMO. Those sound like policy differences with specific initiatives. I wonder if McCain would qualify those as "pork barrel projects?" Anyways, using this example to suggest Obama would make whole sale cuts to the military's budget (i.e., there day-to-day operations) is misleading.

Of course, ending the Iraq war could be seen as a decrease too (even though the war funding is a special appropriation every year and not part of the budget).

Could be. I have to deal with a lot of that every year and we have to wait and see what he Military budget is every year. Then it gets passed down from the Pentagon. But it still falls under the military budget. Oh yeah, about $100 Million was spent on a contract that was awarded over 5 years and $125 Million on a contract that was awarded over 7 years. That is just two examples in Huntsville alone. There is also a lot of that work that goes on all over the US in places you wouldn't think about.

[bigsixfive 328]

bigsixfive...you need to take some lessons. nice work aujarhead.

Didn't Obama give a pledge to Bud Cramer as it relates to NASA funding? I haven't seen anything about cutting military funding. I'd like to see a link on that if any one has it.

runinred... you need to be more specific on what you're asking for.

[RunInRed 16,454]

I'm still pretty shocked that no one is outraged that we can't account for 6 Billion of taxpayer dollars. I know there are other examples (we could point to thousands) and I know you all hate Obama (blah blah) but here is a real living example of government waste and all the fiscal conservatives on the board are mum. Deafining.