As Trump Attacks Sanders on "Socialism," Pentagon Audit Shows $10 Trillion Unaccounted For

[James_Madison_Lives]

Well a fact is a fact. Look at the pie chart in the article on trend in concentration of wealth. Even Warren Buffet is worried. Thirty trillion dollars in "unsupported adjustments" in Pentagon budget. What do you reckon that means?




https://hubpages.com/politics/Pentagon-Audit-Shows-10-Trillion-Unaccounted-for-As-Trump-Attacks-Sanders-on-Socialism

As Trump Attacks Sanders on "Socialism," Pentagon Audit Shows $10 Trillion Unaccounted For

While Donald Trump in his State of the Union address took a thinly-veiled swipe at Bernie Sanders when he declared that America would never, ever, fall victim to "socialism," analysts were aghast at a recent General Accounting Office report that the Pentagon was forced to make up to $35 trillion in "accounting adjustments," more than the entire size of the US economy, in 2019.

Socialism is just not the American way, declared Trump.

Media describing the report, such as Bloomberg News, carefully stressed that most of this amounted to double, triple, and even quadruple-counting billions from one account to another. "The same money as it got moved between accounts,” according to Todd Harrison, a Pentagon budget expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Giving the impression, in the Bloomberg piece, that it pretty much all balanced out, with not much missing. Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood explained "how the dollar figures multiply":

"Sherwood said recognizing $800 million due a contractor in previously unrecorded payments “requires multiple accounting adjustments that net to $0 but could total over $5 billion” in movement between accounts."

But, and here is the big "but," buried in the thirteenth paragraph of the Bloomberg came this, with Sherwood saying:

"What’s most important to an auditor is whether the adjustments “are properly supported” because “properly supported adjustments ensure financial statement values are accurate. We have made significant progress in reducing the number and dollar value of unsupported adjustments by over 30% and 70%, respectively,”FULL ARTICLE https://hubpages.com/politics/Pentag...s-on-Socialism

[Zippyjuan]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/penta...231154593.html

So what are these accounting adjustments? Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says they represent “a lot of double, triple, and quadruple counting of the same money as it got moved between accounts” within the Pentagon. “A lot” may be an understatement: According to government data, there were 562,568 adjustments made in the Pentagon’s books in 2018.

[Slave Mentality]

The (R)s are definitely welfare kings contrary to the arguments otherwise. They believe that giving billions a year to guys in suits isn’t welfare and acceptable. They believe giving poor people billions is welfare and should be avoided. They just can’t seem to see past the partisan politics that taking from one and giving to another is socialism/communism/whateverism. Fluffy words don’t change this. Half our labors go to feed this beast. I pray we quit arguing about the details.

[oyarde]

Defense budget needs complete overhaul . If you eliminate procurement for now you need three accounts .First account is payroll and benefits . That money should never need shifted out of that account within the year and without approval of the senate at end of year. Other two accounts are Fuel , Ammo ,Food as one account . Last account is equipment , parts etc. Excess at the end of fiscal yr on fuel ammo and food account should be returned to the senate and earmarked for application against debt. Otherwise if it goes to general fund it will be squandered on earmarks by the house. Third account , equipment . parts etc can be determined by the senate if that money remains or is eliminated from the next years budget. In the mean time the people should encourage the house to cut this budget a certain percentage ea yr .

[Ender]

The (R)s are definitely welfare kings contrary to the arguments otherwise. They believe that giving billions a year to guys in suits isn’t welfare and acceptable. They believe giving poor people billions is welfare and should be avoided. They just can’t seem to see past the partisan politics that taking from one and giving to another is socialism/communism/whateverism. Fluffy words don’t change this. Half our labors go to feed this beast. I pray we quit arguing about the details.

AMEN!

AND I'D +REP YOU AGAIN, IF I COULD.

[oyarde]

The 2021 Pentagon proposal is for 705.4 Billion . That excludes 15.5 million cut for half the funding of the Stars and Stripes newspaper. The newspaper reaches one million and is funded half through ads and sales and half through the Pentagon. Been in existence I think since WW II .

[Marenco]

AMEN!

AND I'D +REP YOU AGAIN, IF I COULD.

Covered

[Swordsmyth]

It's a good thing Trump ordered the audit.

[Slave Mentality]

AMEN!

AND I'D +REP YOU AGAIN, IF I COULD.

Covered

Thanks!

[unknown]

As Trump Attacks Sanders on "Socialism," he gives a SOTU address promoting socialism.