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June 08, 2004

Waste Not, Want Not

It looks like the Pentagon is blowing our tax dollars:

The Defense Department spent an estimated $100 million for airline tickets that were not used over a six-year period and failed to seek refunds even though the tickets were reimbursable, congressional investigators say.

Lest we let an institutionalized managerial issue be resolved in a timely fashion, the best bet is to blame it on the latest party in power:

"At a time when our soldiers are patrolling the streets of Iraq in unarmored Humvees, and when the Bush Administration is asking for record Defense spending, Secretary (Donald H.) Rumsfeld is letting hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to protect our troops and our country go to waste," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (search), D-Ill., one of three lawmakers who ordered the studies.

The GAO estimated that between 1997 and 2003, the Defense Department bought at least $100 million in tickets that were not used or used only partially by a passenger who did not complete all legs of a flight. The waste went undetected because the department relied on individuals to report the unused tickets.They did not do so.

Now, I - granted - am no master of the magical time machine o'wish-I-may-wish-I-might, but Rumsfeld didn't even get put in charge of the DoD house until January 20, 2001. Counting on my right hand only, that leaves 1997... 1998... 1999... 2000 ... why, FOUR YEARS, for someone in the Clinton Administration to figure this shit out (and god forbid I have to bring my thumb into my counting, because we all know what that means!).

I can, however, agree with a fairly blunt, non-partisan assessment like this:

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, another lawmaker who ordered the studies, said, "It's outrageous that the Defense Department would be sending additional federal tax dollars to the airlines by way of unused passenger tickets. And the fact that the Defense Department didn't even know it was wasting this money is even worse than $100 million down a rathole."

Yes, there are problems. Yes, the DoD could save themselves much grief by hiring someone like... ohhhh.... ME, to help them with their internal processes, to the tune of $ButtLoad per hour. However, to turn this into a chance to slam Rumsfeld for the sins of the father, well, piss off you opportunistic fucktards.

Pardon mon Français.