Regarding Ruppersberger and Fort Meade policy:
Here we go down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland as MR NSA HIMSELF.....MR. PRIVATIZE ALL MILITARY AND END PUBLIC MILITARY FACILITIES TO THE DETRIMENT OF ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL......cries foul over legislation designed to protect American civil liberties and end DEATH TO AMERICA chanting as the NSA and Wall Street enrage the world with its illegal activities that undermine sovereignty including the US. Nothing makes the US more prone to attack from enemies than the actions of Wall Street and their NSA!
Here we are with republicans being the protector of US Constitutional rights and public justice. Meanwhile, it is MD neo-liberals making the Ft Meade NSA central. Remember, it was George Bush and neo-liberals who started this and are the face of the hedge funds running it. So, this is a neo-con/neo-liberal problem.
DO NOT ALLOW REPUBLICANS SHOUT THAT DEMOCRATS ARE THE PROBLEM.....NEO-LIBERALS ARE NOT DEMOCRATS!
BREAKING: Maryland Legislators Move To Kill NSA Headquarters
benswann.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md., February 10, 2014-- It's lights our for the National Security Agency (NSA). State lawmakers in Maryland have filed...
____________________________________
As Dutch Ruppersberger knows the US lost trillions of dollars over just a few decades to defense industry fraud, billions each year. Much of it is used to bribe, used to promote fraudulent development abroad, to buy alliances that later fall apart and amount to nothing. Profiteering in the defense industry is rampant and it is public malfeasance and duplicity when politicians charged with serving the public allow all of this to happen without public justice. What Ruppersberger supports is an NSA run by Wall Street and not a system designed to oversee Wall Street and stop the fleecing of American taxpayers with defense industry fraud.
Dutch doesn't want to stop there.....he wants to privatize all that is public support of Veterans at bases like Fort Meade and reduce the Veteran's Administration to private corporate non-profits with no oversight and known not to be doing the business of aiding Vets.
NOTICE ALL THE CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS CREATED TO BEG FOR MONEY FOR VETERANS? THAT IS WHAT RUPPERSBERGER HAS WORKED TO DO FOR VETERANS BY PRIVATIZING ALL PUBLIC SERVICES FOR VETS! WHAT A GUY!!!!!!!
But wait, Dutch is fighting against cuts to veterans benefits you say!!! Recovering defense industry fraud would pay off much of the national debt and remove this fake deficit and debt! DO YOU HEAR DUTCH SHOUTING FOR THIS?????? No, Dutch is busy passing laws that allow the US military to expand its mercenary military to non-citizens overseas because we have to protect US global corporate interests while these corporations are fleecing Americans and ignoring all Rule of Law. HOW DOES RUPPERSBERGER KEEP GETTING RE-ELECTED YOU SAY!
RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES TO SHAKE THE NEO-LIBERAL BUGS FROM THE RUG!!!!!
Do you know that Manning downloaded and gave to Wikileaks defense industry data on just these defense industry expenditures just so international investigative journalists could do the research that shows where all this defense industry fraud is and where it is going? See why Manning was tried as aiding the enemy------WHO ARE OBVIOUSLY YOU AND I!
Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime
Lawrence M. Salinger, Ph.D.
Pub. date: 2005 | Online Pub. Date: September 15, 2007 | DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412914260 | Print ISBN: 9780761930044 | Online ISBN: 9781412914260 | Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.
Defense Industry Fraud
John Walsh Ph.D.
THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY comprises the development, production and sale of weapons and weapons-support systems. In some cases, components or substances that are not themselves weapons may be classified as being part of the defense industry if it is believed that they may be used in the creation of weapons. The defense industry is characterized by oligopolistic conditions, in which a small number of large firms compete for a small number of orders from governments. Success in the industry relies upon, to a considerable extent, economies of scale from research and development departments, large-scale production facilities and good network contacts with relevant government officials, both domestically and internationally. Many overseas sales are characterized by corruption and bribery and Transparency International has listed defense, along with the public works and construction industry, as being the sectors in which bribery is most rife. The very high value of products also provides an incentive ...
________________________________________________
There's Bernie Sanders shouting loudly to use defense industry fraud to pay down the national debt. The trillions recovered from a few decades of fraud would end all cuts to public services and programs tied to the military.
As Bernie says......IT IS THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC MILITARY WORK THAT MAKES GOVERNMENT COFFERS FEEDING TROUGHS FOR CORPORATE FRAUD! You won't hear Dutch shouting this!
Lawmakers push Defense fraud, waste report to influence supercommittee cuts
By John T. Bennett - 10/23/11 06:53 PM EDT The Hill Blog
Liberal lawmakers will soon send the congressional deficit panel the details of a Pentagon report that shows defense firms over the last decade ripped off the military to the tune of $1.1 trillion, Democratic sources told The Hill.
Pro-military lawmakers from both parties have warned the supercommittee to avoid Pentagon spending cuts beyond the $350 billion ordered by the August debt deal.
But several Senate Democrats want the panel to keep in mind that dollars sent to the Pentagon are often lost to fraud and waste, even as some conservatives raise the possibility of retroactively exempting the Pentagon from the $600 billion cut that will be triggered if the supercommittee fails.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last week highlighted what he called a “shocking” internal Pentagon report that concluded defense companies defrauded the military by $1.1 trillion.
“The ugly truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money,” Sanders said in a statement. “With the country running a nearly $15 trillion national debt, my goal is to provide as much transparency as possible about what is happening with taxpayer money.”
More than $250 million “went to 54 contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period,” Sanders said, summarizing tables included with the DoD report. “Of that total, $33 million was paid to companies after they were convicted of crimes.”
The Pentagon revealed defense behemoth Lockheed Martin paid $10.5 million in 2008 to settle fraud charges related to the Titan IV rocket program. Northrop Grumman paid $62 million three years prior to settle allegations it was involved in a fraud scheme.
And the list of contractors linked to waste goes on, the DoD tables show, ranging from the other largest defense firms to smaller companies.
Yet most continued to receive massive contracts.
And that does not sit well with Sanders and several other liberal lawmakers, Democratic sources say.
Sanders “believes numbers like these are very relevant for the supercommittee when some are talking about cutting social programs,” an aide to the Vermont liberal told The Hill on Friday.
“The supercommittee also should see the extent to which these companies committed fraud on behalf of the government,” the Sanders aide said. “We will get this to the supercommittee, at least at the staff level.”
Another Democratic aide said his boss intends to highlight the DoD fraud report as the special panel ramps up its search for $1.5 trillion in federal cuts. It must finish its work by Nov. 23 or automatic triggers will be enacted, including $600 billion in cuts to security spending.
“As debate goes forward, I’m sure you’ll see a number of Democrats on the left use that report and others like it. There’s a movement on the right to go back and exempt defense spending from the trigger if the supercommittee fails,” the Democratic aide said Friday. “That’s going to be unacceptable to [liberals who are] likely to use reports like this as proof that there is room to cut Defense spending without harming security.”
The Aerospace Industries Association, a leading defense industrial lobbying organization, declined to comment on the report.
But one prominent defense analyst and industry consultant blasted the Pentagon’s findings.
“Sen. Sanders is correct in stating the report is shocking — it's shockingly wrong. The report confuses isolated cases of wrongdoing with the dominant culture in the defense industry, which is the most heavily regulated and audited industry in the nation,” said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.
“Critics of Defense spending like Sen. Sanders routinely make sweeping allegations of malfeasance in military contracting while ignoring far worse behavior in major entitlement programs like Medicaid,” he said.
What’s more, the yearly waste within the military largely comes from “decisions by legislators and policymakers that disburse funds to unnecessary projects” and mandate “superfluous tests, reports and contracting procedures,” Thompson told The Hill. “That's where the real waste occurs in military contracting, but Sen. Sanders would prefer to focus on the handful of cases of malfeasance that more closely match his ideological leanings.”
But one government watchdog group called the findings “mind-boggling.”
“The amount of money given to these companies is staggering, but what is really mind-boggling is the willingness of the DoD to provide additional taxpayer dollars to the same bad actors again and again,” Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) said in a Friday statement.
“Despite the report’s findings, the DoD’s over-reliance on contractors may hinder reform,” Amey said. “Taxpayers are unlikely to see any changes until DoD holds contractors more accountable, especially those defrauding the government.”
______________________________________
George Bush sent trillions in profit to all of Cheney's Halliburton and hedge funds became Blackwater USA as our public troops were ghettoized with the super-sized wages these private military contractors paid private employees with the same US taxpayer money. The intent was to move the best public troops over to private contractors as the public military structures were dismantled. On came Obama and Hillary who as neo-liberals placed this process on steroids with the movement of troops and war to Afghanistan. Now, government watchdogs say that over 70% of US military is private contractors and the fraud and corruption is rampant. US private military behave so illegally that nations do not want them in their countries. Human rights abuse is systemic.
What we are seeing in the build-up of the US police state is the coming home of these private military contractors and employees to become city and state police. We in Baltimore know what this police state will look like. Police here act with impunity here just as they do overseas. SEE WHY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE SHOUTING 'DEATH TO AMERICA"?
DO YOU HEAR MARYLAND POLS TALKING ABOUT THIS????? THEY ARE NEO-LIBERALS WORKING FOR WEALTH AND PROFITS!
Christian Science Monitor
Opinion
A lesson from Iraq war: How to outsource war to private contractors
During the Iraq war, private defense contractors providing security and support outnumbered troops on the ground at points. Contractors can enhance US military capacity but also entail risks. US experience with private security contractors holds several key lessons.
By Molly Dunigan / March 19, 2013
A helicopter owned by Blackwater USA, a private security contractor, flies over central Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2007. Op-ed contributor Molly Dunigan says 'the United States must protect its interests and ensure that the contractors it employs are carefully vetted and well trained. It should also continue to work toward a commonly accepted means of holding contractors accountable for their behavior.'
Ten years after it began, the Iraq war might best be remembered as America’s most privatized military engagement to date, with contractors hired by the Pentagon actually outnumbering troops on the ground at various points.
This might come as a surprise to many, since the sheer number of contractors used in Iraq was often overshadowed by events. By 2008, the US Department of Defense employed 155,826 private contractors in Iraq – and 152,275 troops. This degree of privatization is unprecedented in modern warfare.
One of the most important lessons of the Iraq war is that this military privatization is likely to continue in future conflicts. This could be a good thing, as contractors can enhance US military capacity. But any large-scale use of private military contractors also entails risks. Recent US experience with private security contractors, in particular, holds several critical lessons for the future.
OPINION: After US withdrawal from Iraq, a tallying of the balance sheet
Of course, private contractors are not new to war zones. They supported all the major US conflicts of the late 20th century, including in Vietnam, the Balkans, and Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. But in these cases, they mainly provided logistical and base support.
Now, the US military has developed a growing dependence on private contractors – and for a wide range of functions traditionally handled by military personnel. The Army spent roughly $815 million ($163 million per year, or about $200 million per year in 2012 dollars) to employ contractors under its Logistics Civil Augmentation Program between 1992 and 1997. But between 2001 and 2010, that expenditure grew to nearly $5 billion per year. Of course, this latter cost coincides with US involvement in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.
A more pertinent question – and what truly sets the Iraq war apart – concerns the role of these private civilian contractors. Throughout the war, the majority (61 percent) of contracted jobs continued to be base-support functions. The next-largest group (18 percent) of Department of Defense contractors were security contractors. They provided security services, such as guarding installations, protecting convoys, or acting as bodyguards.
Moreover, this outsourcing trend continued in Afghanistan, where there were 94,413 contractors in 2010, compared with 91,600 US troops.
Military outsourcing in this vein developed as a result of an increased supply of private military services combined with increased demand. The boom in supply was borne out of larger privatization trends in both the US and Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, which spread over into the military arena. The increased demand was due to the strains that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan placed on the US military.
___________________________________
As I wrote before....Maryland was sighted as having the worse VA services with a failing grade for the Baltimore VA center because all of it has been privatized to private non-profits taking the taxpayer money under the guise of running programs that VETs will tell you are not happening. Indeed, talk was to get rid of the VA building itself. THAT'S DUTCH FOR YOU.....WORKING FOR DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND CORPORATE PROFITS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE CITIZENS WHO VOTE FOR HIM!!!
SHAKE THE NEO-LIBERAL BUGS FROM THE RUG BY RUNNING AND VOTING FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES!
Friday, January 28th, 2011 | Posted by Dale R. Suiter
VA / Privatization = Loss for Vets
Don't give up on these guys!
New folks in the House of Representatives say they are looking to “cut spending” and reduce the size of government. There is a movement to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
There is mention to of privatizing some government health care services. What’s all this mean for Vets?
If you love what Halliburton did for the trrops, yuo’ll love what privatization will do for veterans.
October 15, 2010 (rushlimbaugh.com) then candidate Sharron Angle was critical of Senator Reid. Senator Reid reportedly said: “She (Ms. Angle) wants to privatize the Veterans Administration.” Mr. Linbaugh continues: “What’s wrong with privatizing the VA…? Somebody tell me where its working. Somebody tell me where anything the federal government is running is working… Privatize the Veterans Administration.!”
Including the military:
1. 10th mountain Division – great outfit
2. 1 Bn 119th FA MIARNG – excellent – well trained cannoneers
3. United States Marine Corp (especially 3/9 and 1/3)*
4. United States Air Force
5. United States Army
6. United States Coast Guard
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
8. Departments of Motor Vehicles in 50 states and all the territories
9. Local, state and federal judicial systems – that due process item we kinda like and wanna keep
10. Open meeting acts around the country
Privatization come with a heavy price tag. Many traditional military mainenance and support roles have been privatized. Many line grunts report few hot meals “… at the front …” (O.K. no hot food up front is as old as warfare). Military units are challgenged to repair and maintain vehicles, equipment, aircraft and weapons systems. (In one case – an Army 88M’s Dad – sent his son a needed tool kit so he and his truck partner could repair the trucks they were assigned to. Also as old as the history of warfare. Key point is the troops could not get the support they needed in theater.)
FACT SHEET
GAO Issues Report on Hlliburton Troops Support Contract In Iraq (Minority Staff Committe On Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives Juy 21, 2004)
This GAO report documented serious shortfalls with the government contract with Halliburton. Problems included:
* Planning for troops delayed until “Afther the Fall of Baghadad.”
* Planning for Support Services “Ineffective”
* Halliburton’s uncontrolled costs (Halliburton costs grew from $5.8 billion to $8.6 billion between September 2003 and January 2004.)
The report “higlights a pattern of contractor management problems. Including:
* Inadequate cost control
* Difficulties meeting schedules – Halliburton did not provide some services required, including “water production”
* Inadequate control over purchases
* Inadequate control over subcontractors
The report notes too inadequate control and oversight of Halliburton as follows: “… essentially military officials do not understand their role … regarding their roles and responsibilities.”
Dana Hedgpath, Washington Post (3011098) wrote: “KBR Faulted on Water Provided to Soldiers”. The article includes: “U.S. Soldiers at a military base in Iraq … provided with … untested water for … two years by KBR … and may have suffered health problems … KBR inappropriately distributed chlorinated wastewater to 5,000 U.S. troops at Camp Q-West … north of Baghdad… KBR disagreed with the report.”
Many Vets depend on the VA. Privatizing it will turn Vets worlds upside down. One thing our government can not do well is track massive contracts with private industry and contractors. There many examples of troops running into wall after wall after wall trying to get day to day military tasks completed – and being frustrated with civilians who do not respond to the military. The so called reduction of the military dating from the 1990′s is a myth. The funds and tasks have been redirected into private industry – at a loss to the military and increased danger to our troops. Privatization of the VA would be another disaster.
Regards
Dale R. Suiter
* Corp as in Marine Corp – the Corp is pronounced – core – folks. Often mispronounced by those who have not had the honor of Marine Corp service.
Note: Author does not support or approve of the Affordable Care Act. It is (my opinion) of something the government can not do well. Read the act and determine for yourself the many implications for the VA.
________________________________________
This is what neo-liberals have reduced all public services to....charity. Rather than have Medicare and Medicaid or VET health programs.....we will see if corporations and other will donate to charities for even more tax write-offs rather than simply pay taxes!
DUTCH------I DO NOT HEAR YOU SHOUTING AGAINST ALL OF THIS....BUT YOU LOVE YOUR NSA COMPLEX DON'T YOU?????
Veterans Charities Ratings
The American Institute of Philanthropy recently released a report rating various veterans charities on how well they support the causes they were created to support.
We were surprised at some of the ratings in this report; not at others. Before you donate your hard-earned dollars to any charitable organization, check it out to see how much of its revenues actually go to support its charitable purpose, and how much goes to administrative expenses, salaries, and fundraising. You may be surprised!
Letter grades were based largely on the charities' fundraising costs and the percentage of money raised that was spent on its charitable activities.
The charities that received failing grades are in red type.
The charities that received grades of A or better are in bold blue type.
Here are the December 2007 veterans charities ratings, by the AIP:
Veterans Charities Ratings
Air Force Aid Society (A+)
American Ex-Prisoners of War Service Foundation (F)
American Veterans Coalition (F)
American Veterans Relief Foundation (F)
AMVETS National Service Foundation (F)
Armed Services YMCA of the USA (A-)
Army Emergency Relief (A+)
Blinded Veterans Association (D)
Coalition to Support America's Heroes (F)
Disabled American Veterans (D)
Disabled Veterans Association (F)
Notice the similarity of the name to Disabled American Veterans
Fisher House Foundation (A+)
Freedom Alliance (F)
Help Hospitalized Veterans/Coalition to Salute America's Heroes (F)
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (A+)
Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation (F)
National Military Family Association (A)
National Veterans Services Fund (F)
National Vietnam Veterans Committee (D)
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (A+)
NCOA National Defense Foundation (F)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (F)
Soldiers' Angels (D)
United Spinal Association's Wounded Warrior Project (D)*
* See update on Wounded Warrior Project
USO (United Service Organization) (C+)
Veterans of Foreign Wars and Foundation (C-)
Veterans of the Vietnam War & the Veterans Coalition (D)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (D)
VietNow National Headquarters (F)
World War II Veterans Committee (D)
Read the complete AIP veterans charity watchdog report and veterans charities ratings.
Do you have questions about specific veterans charities?
First, check the list of veterans charities reviewed by Military-Money-Matters.com. If the charity you're interested in is not listed there, then check the references listed below the stars & stripes bar to look up information.
If you can't find the answer to your question in any of those sources, ask your questions about specific veterans charities. For ease of answering your questions, please make a separate submission for each different charity you wish to inquire about, and make the title of your submission the name of the charity. Thanks.
Here we go down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland as MR NSA HIMSELF.....MR. PRIVATIZE ALL MILITARY AND END PUBLIC MILITARY FACILITIES TO THE DETRIMENT OF ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL......cries foul over legislation designed to protect American civil liberties and end DEATH TO AMERICA chanting as the NSA and Wall Street enrage the world with its illegal activities that undermine sovereignty including the US. Nothing makes the US more prone to attack from enemies than the actions of Wall Street and their NSA!
Here we are with republicans being the protector of US Constitutional rights and public justice. Meanwhile, it is MD neo-liberals making the Ft Meade NSA central. Remember, it was George Bush and neo-liberals who started this and are the face of the hedge funds running it. So, this is a neo-con/neo-liberal problem.
DO NOT ALLOW REPUBLICANS SHOUT THAT DEMOCRATS ARE THE PROBLEM.....NEO-LIBERALS ARE NOT DEMOCRATS!
BREAKING: Maryland Legislators Move To Kill NSA Headquarters
benswann.com
ANNAPOLIS, Md., February 10, 2014-- It's lights our for the National Security Agency (NSA). State lawmakers in Maryland have filed...
____________________________________
As Dutch Ruppersberger knows the US lost trillions of dollars over just a few decades to defense industry fraud, billions each year. Much of it is used to bribe, used to promote fraudulent development abroad, to buy alliances that later fall apart and amount to nothing. Profiteering in the defense industry is rampant and it is public malfeasance and duplicity when politicians charged with serving the public allow all of this to happen without public justice. What Ruppersberger supports is an NSA run by Wall Street and not a system designed to oversee Wall Street and stop the fleecing of American taxpayers with defense industry fraud.
Dutch doesn't want to stop there.....he wants to privatize all that is public support of Veterans at bases like Fort Meade and reduce the Veteran's Administration to private corporate non-profits with no oversight and known not to be doing the business of aiding Vets.
NOTICE ALL THE CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS CREATED TO BEG FOR MONEY FOR VETERANS? THAT IS WHAT RUPPERSBERGER HAS WORKED TO DO FOR VETERANS BY PRIVATIZING ALL PUBLIC SERVICES FOR VETS! WHAT A GUY!!!!!!!
But wait, Dutch is fighting against cuts to veterans benefits you say!!! Recovering defense industry fraud would pay off much of the national debt and remove this fake deficit and debt! DO YOU HEAR DUTCH SHOUTING FOR THIS?????? No, Dutch is busy passing laws that allow the US military to expand its mercenary military to non-citizens overseas because we have to protect US global corporate interests while these corporations are fleecing Americans and ignoring all Rule of Law. HOW DOES RUPPERSBERGER KEEP GETTING RE-ELECTED YOU SAY!
RUN AND VOTE FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES TO SHAKE THE NEO-LIBERAL BUGS FROM THE RUG!!!!!
Do you know that Manning downloaded and gave to Wikileaks defense industry data on just these defense industry expenditures just so international investigative journalists could do the research that shows where all this defense industry fraud is and where it is going? See why Manning was tried as aiding the enemy------WHO ARE OBVIOUSLY YOU AND I!
Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime
Lawrence M. Salinger, Ph.D.
Pub. date: 2005 | Online Pub. Date: September 15, 2007 | DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412914260 | Print ISBN: 9780761930044 | Online ISBN: 9781412914260 | Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.
Defense Industry Fraud
John Walsh Ph.D.
THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY comprises the development, production and sale of weapons and weapons-support systems. In some cases, components or substances that are not themselves weapons may be classified as being part of the defense industry if it is believed that they may be used in the creation of weapons. The defense industry is characterized by oligopolistic conditions, in which a small number of large firms compete for a small number of orders from governments. Success in the industry relies upon, to a considerable extent, economies of scale from research and development departments, large-scale production facilities and good network contacts with relevant government officials, both domestically and internationally. Many overseas sales are characterized by corruption and bribery and Transparency International has listed defense, along with the public works and construction industry, as being the sectors in which bribery is most rife. The very high value of products also provides an incentive ...
________________________________________________
There's Bernie Sanders shouting loudly to use defense industry fraud to pay down the national debt. The trillions recovered from a few decades of fraud would end all cuts to public services and programs tied to the military.
As Bernie says......IT IS THE PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC MILITARY WORK THAT MAKES GOVERNMENT COFFERS FEEDING TROUGHS FOR CORPORATE FRAUD! You won't hear Dutch shouting this!
Lawmakers push Defense fraud, waste report to influence supercommittee cuts
By John T. Bennett - 10/23/11 06:53 PM EDT The Hill Blog
Liberal lawmakers will soon send the congressional deficit panel the details of a Pentagon report that shows defense firms over the last decade ripped off the military to the tune of $1.1 trillion, Democratic sources told The Hill.
Pro-military lawmakers from both parties have warned the supercommittee to avoid Pentagon spending cuts beyond the $350 billion ordered by the August debt deal.
But several Senate Democrats want the panel to keep in mind that dollars sent to the Pentagon are often lost to fraud and waste, even as some conservatives raise the possibility of retroactively exempting the Pentagon from the $600 billion cut that will be triggered if the supercommittee fails.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last week highlighted what he called a “shocking” internal Pentagon report that concluded defense companies defrauded the military by $1.1 trillion.
“The ugly truth is that virtually all of the major defense contractors in this country for years have been engaged in systemic fraudulent behavior, while receiving hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money,” Sanders said in a statement. “With the country running a nearly $15 trillion national debt, my goal is to provide as much transparency as possible about what is happening with taxpayer money.”
More than $250 million “went to 54 contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period,” Sanders said, summarizing tables included with the DoD report. “Of that total, $33 million was paid to companies after they were convicted of crimes.”
The Pentagon revealed defense behemoth Lockheed Martin paid $10.5 million in 2008 to settle fraud charges related to the Titan IV rocket program. Northrop Grumman paid $62 million three years prior to settle allegations it was involved in a fraud scheme.
And the list of contractors linked to waste goes on, the DoD tables show, ranging from the other largest defense firms to smaller companies.
Yet most continued to receive massive contracts.
And that does not sit well with Sanders and several other liberal lawmakers, Democratic sources say.
Sanders “believes numbers like these are very relevant for the supercommittee when some are talking about cutting social programs,” an aide to the Vermont liberal told The Hill on Friday.
“The supercommittee also should see the extent to which these companies committed fraud on behalf of the government,” the Sanders aide said. “We will get this to the supercommittee, at least at the staff level.”
Another Democratic aide said his boss intends to highlight the DoD fraud report as the special panel ramps up its search for $1.5 trillion in federal cuts. It must finish its work by Nov. 23 or automatic triggers will be enacted, including $600 billion in cuts to security spending.
“As debate goes forward, I’m sure you’ll see a number of Democrats on the left use that report and others like it. There’s a movement on the right to go back and exempt defense spending from the trigger if the supercommittee fails,” the Democratic aide said Friday. “That’s going to be unacceptable to [liberals who are] likely to use reports like this as proof that there is room to cut Defense spending without harming security.”
The Aerospace Industries Association, a leading defense industrial lobbying organization, declined to comment on the report.
But one prominent defense analyst and industry consultant blasted the Pentagon’s findings.
“Sen. Sanders is correct in stating the report is shocking — it's shockingly wrong. The report confuses isolated cases of wrongdoing with the dominant culture in the defense industry, which is the most heavily regulated and audited industry in the nation,” said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.
“Critics of Defense spending like Sen. Sanders routinely make sweeping allegations of malfeasance in military contracting while ignoring far worse behavior in major entitlement programs like Medicaid,” he said.
What’s more, the yearly waste within the military largely comes from “decisions by legislators and policymakers that disburse funds to unnecessary projects” and mandate “superfluous tests, reports and contracting procedures,” Thompson told The Hill. “That's where the real waste occurs in military contracting, but Sen. Sanders would prefer to focus on the handful of cases of malfeasance that more closely match his ideological leanings.”
But one government watchdog group called the findings “mind-boggling.”
“The amount of money given to these companies is staggering, but what is really mind-boggling is the willingness of the DoD to provide additional taxpayer dollars to the same bad actors again and again,” Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) said in a Friday statement.
“Despite the report’s findings, the DoD’s over-reliance on contractors may hinder reform,” Amey said. “Taxpayers are unlikely to see any changes until DoD holds contractors more accountable, especially those defrauding the government.”
______________________________________
George Bush sent trillions in profit to all of Cheney's Halliburton and hedge funds became Blackwater USA as our public troops were ghettoized with the super-sized wages these private military contractors paid private employees with the same US taxpayer money. The intent was to move the best public troops over to private contractors as the public military structures were dismantled. On came Obama and Hillary who as neo-liberals placed this process on steroids with the movement of troops and war to Afghanistan. Now, government watchdogs say that over 70% of US military is private contractors and the fraud and corruption is rampant. US private military behave so illegally that nations do not want them in their countries. Human rights abuse is systemic.
What we are seeing in the build-up of the US police state is the coming home of these private military contractors and employees to become city and state police. We in Baltimore know what this police state will look like. Police here act with impunity here just as they do overseas. SEE WHY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE SHOUTING 'DEATH TO AMERICA"?
DO YOU HEAR MARYLAND POLS TALKING ABOUT THIS????? THEY ARE NEO-LIBERALS WORKING FOR WEALTH AND PROFITS!
Christian Science Monitor
Opinion
A lesson from Iraq war: How to outsource war to private contractors
During the Iraq war, private defense contractors providing security and support outnumbered troops on the ground at points. Contractors can enhance US military capacity but also entail risks. US experience with private security contractors holds several key lessons.
By Molly Dunigan / March 19, 2013
A helicopter owned by Blackwater USA, a private security contractor, flies over central Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2007. Op-ed contributor Molly Dunigan says 'the United States must protect its interests and ensure that the contractors it employs are carefully vetted and well trained. It should also continue to work toward a commonly accepted means of holding contractors accountable for their behavior.'
Ten years after it began, the Iraq war might best be remembered as America’s most privatized military engagement to date, with contractors hired by the Pentagon actually outnumbering troops on the ground at various points.
This might come as a surprise to many, since the sheer number of contractors used in Iraq was often overshadowed by events. By 2008, the US Department of Defense employed 155,826 private contractors in Iraq – and 152,275 troops. This degree of privatization is unprecedented in modern warfare.
One of the most important lessons of the Iraq war is that this military privatization is likely to continue in future conflicts. This could be a good thing, as contractors can enhance US military capacity. But any large-scale use of private military contractors also entails risks. Recent US experience with private security contractors, in particular, holds several critical lessons for the future.
OPINION: After US withdrawal from Iraq, a tallying of the balance sheet
Of course, private contractors are not new to war zones. They supported all the major US conflicts of the late 20th century, including in Vietnam, the Balkans, and Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. But in these cases, they mainly provided logistical and base support.
Now, the US military has developed a growing dependence on private contractors – and for a wide range of functions traditionally handled by military personnel. The Army spent roughly $815 million ($163 million per year, or about $200 million per year in 2012 dollars) to employ contractors under its Logistics Civil Augmentation Program between 1992 and 1997. But between 2001 and 2010, that expenditure grew to nearly $5 billion per year. Of course, this latter cost coincides with US involvement in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.
A more pertinent question – and what truly sets the Iraq war apart – concerns the role of these private civilian contractors. Throughout the war, the majority (61 percent) of contracted jobs continued to be base-support functions. The next-largest group (18 percent) of Department of Defense contractors were security contractors. They provided security services, such as guarding installations, protecting convoys, or acting as bodyguards.
Moreover, this outsourcing trend continued in Afghanistan, where there were 94,413 contractors in 2010, compared with 91,600 US troops.
Military outsourcing in this vein developed as a result of an increased supply of private military services combined with increased demand. The boom in supply was borne out of larger privatization trends in both the US and Britain in the 1980s and 1990s, which spread over into the military arena. The increased demand was due to the strains that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan placed on the US military.
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As I wrote before....Maryland was sighted as having the worse VA services with a failing grade for the Baltimore VA center because all of it has been privatized to private non-profits taking the taxpayer money under the guise of running programs that VETs will tell you are not happening. Indeed, talk was to get rid of the VA building itself. THAT'S DUTCH FOR YOU.....WORKING FOR DEFENSE INDUSTRY AND CORPORATE PROFITS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE CITIZENS WHO VOTE FOR HIM!!!
SHAKE THE NEO-LIBERAL BUGS FROM THE RUG BY RUNNING AND VOTING FOR LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES!
Friday, January 28th, 2011 | Posted by Dale R. Suiter
VA / Privatization = Loss for Vets
Don't give up on these guys!
New folks in the House of Representatives say they are looking to “cut spending” and reduce the size of government. There is a movement to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
There is mention to of privatizing some government health care services. What’s all this mean for Vets?
If you love what Halliburton did for the trrops, yuo’ll love what privatization will do for veterans.
October 15, 2010 (rushlimbaugh.com) then candidate Sharron Angle was critical of Senator Reid. Senator Reid reportedly said: “She (Ms. Angle) wants to privatize the Veterans Administration.” Mr. Linbaugh continues: “What’s wrong with privatizing the VA…? Somebody tell me where its working. Somebody tell me where anything the federal government is running is working… Privatize the Veterans Administration.!”
Including the military:
1. 10th mountain Division – great outfit
2. 1 Bn 119th FA MIARNG – excellent – well trained cannoneers
3. United States Marine Corp (especially 3/9 and 1/3)*
4. United States Air Force
5. United States Army
6. United States Coast Guard
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
8. Departments of Motor Vehicles in 50 states and all the territories
9. Local, state and federal judicial systems – that due process item we kinda like and wanna keep
10. Open meeting acts around the country
Privatization come with a heavy price tag. Many traditional military mainenance and support roles have been privatized. Many line grunts report few hot meals “… at the front …” (O.K. no hot food up front is as old as warfare). Military units are challgenged to repair and maintain vehicles, equipment, aircraft and weapons systems. (In one case – an Army 88M’s Dad – sent his son a needed tool kit so he and his truck partner could repair the trucks they were assigned to. Also as old as the history of warfare. Key point is the troops could not get the support they needed in theater.)
FACT SHEET
GAO Issues Report on Hlliburton Troops Support Contract In Iraq (Minority Staff Committe On Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives Juy 21, 2004)
This GAO report documented serious shortfalls with the government contract with Halliburton. Problems included:
* Planning for troops delayed until “Afther the Fall of Baghadad.”
* Planning for Support Services “Ineffective”
* Halliburton’s uncontrolled costs (Halliburton costs grew from $5.8 billion to $8.6 billion between September 2003 and January 2004.)
The report “higlights a pattern of contractor management problems. Including:
* Inadequate cost control
* Difficulties meeting schedules – Halliburton did not provide some services required, including “water production”
* Inadequate control over purchases
* Inadequate control over subcontractors
The report notes too inadequate control and oversight of Halliburton as follows: “… essentially military officials do not understand their role … regarding their roles and responsibilities.”
Dana Hedgpath, Washington Post (3011098) wrote: “KBR Faulted on Water Provided to Soldiers”. The article includes: “U.S. Soldiers at a military base in Iraq … provided with … untested water for … two years by KBR … and may have suffered health problems … KBR inappropriately distributed chlorinated wastewater to 5,000 U.S. troops at Camp Q-West … north of Baghdad… KBR disagreed with the report.”
Many Vets depend on the VA. Privatizing it will turn Vets worlds upside down. One thing our government can not do well is track massive contracts with private industry and contractors. There many examples of troops running into wall after wall after wall trying to get day to day military tasks completed – and being frustrated with civilians who do not respond to the military. The so called reduction of the military dating from the 1990′s is a myth. The funds and tasks have been redirected into private industry – at a loss to the military and increased danger to our troops. Privatization of the VA would be another disaster.
Regards
Dale R. Suiter
* Corp as in Marine Corp – the Corp is pronounced – core – folks. Often mispronounced by those who have not had the honor of Marine Corp service.
Note: Author does not support or approve of the Affordable Care Act. It is (my opinion) of something the government can not do well. Read the act and determine for yourself the many implications for the VA.
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This is what neo-liberals have reduced all public services to....charity. Rather than have Medicare and Medicaid or VET health programs.....we will see if corporations and other will donate to charities for even more tax write-offs rather than simply pay taxes!
DUTCH------I DO NOT HEAR YOU SHOUTING AGAINST ALL OF THIS....BUT YOU LOVE YOUR NSA COMPLEX DON'T YOU?????
Veterans Charities Ratings
The American Institute of Philanthropy recently released a report rating various veterans charities on how well they support the causes they were created to support.
We were surprised at some of the ratings in this report; not at others. Before you donate your hard-earned dollars to any charitable organization, check it out to see how much of its revenues actually go to support its charitable purpose, and how much goes to administrative expenses, salaries, and fundraising. You may be surprised!
Letter grades were based largely on the charities' fundraising costs and the percentage of money raised that was spent on its charitable activities.
The charities that received failing grades are in red type.
The charities that received grades of A or better are in bold blue type.
Here are the December 2007 veterans charities ratings, by the AIP:
Veterans Charities Ratings
Air Force Aid Society (A+)
American Ex-Prisoners of War Service Foundation (F)
American Veterans Coalition (F)
American Veterans Relief Foundation (F)
AMVETS National Service Foundation (F)
Armed Services YMCA of the USA (A-)
Army Emergency Relief (A+)
Blinded Veterans Association (D)
Coalition to Support America's Heroes (F)
Disabled American Veterans (D)
Disabled Veterans Association (F)
Notice the similarity of the name to Disabled American Veterans
Fisher House Foundation (A+)
Freedom Alliance (F)
Help Hospitalized Veterans/Coalition to Salute America's Heroes (F)
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (A+)
Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation (F)
National Military Family Association (A)
National Veterans Services Fund (F)
National Vietnam Veterans Committee (D)
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (A+)
NCOA National Defense Foundation (F)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (F)
Soldiers' Angels (D)
United Spinal Association's Wounded Warrior Project (D)*
* See update on Wounded Warrior Project
USO (United Service Organization) (C+)
Veterans of Foreign Wars and Foundation (C-)
Veterans of the Vietnam War & the Veterans Coalition (D)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (D)
VietNow National Headquarters (F)
World War II Veterans Committee (D)
Read the complete AIP veterans charity watchdog report and veterans charities ratings.
Do you have questions about specific veterans charities?
First, check the list of veterans charities reviewed by Military-Money-Matters.com. If the charity you're interested in is not listed there, then check the references listed below the stars & stripes bar to look up information.
If you can't find the answer to your question in any of those sources, ask your questions about specific veterans charities. For ease of answering your questions, please make a separate submission for each different charity you wish to inquire about, and make the title of your submission the name of the charity. Thanks.
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