This is an interesting article about how thousands of documents that should be on file, disappeared without a trace, and any reasonable explanation. The army failed to provide documents that are:accurate, complete, timely, and well-supported.
In one quarter of 2015, $2.8 trillion was adjusted by the US military. In 2015, $6.5 trillion was adjusted for the year. The inspector general found that 16,513 of 1.3 million records were removed from the Pentagon's budget system during the third quarter of the 2015 fiscal year. The D.F.A.S. Indianapolis quotes they were, "system-generated adjustments rather than manual." The Pentagon, the single largest US government bureaucracy, has been accused of delaying its financial accounting multiple times.
The argument here is that the Pentagon should have checks on it spending. The total market is affected negatively by explicit government spending. If the Pentagon can't account for the expenditure, why should the markets have to suffer because of outrageous budget?
As seen in the Reagan deficits of the early 1980s, there was an increase in defense spending, and big tax cuts. The government spends more bringing about many consequences: decreasing the overall savings of the economy, and increasing the interest rate.
https://www.rt.com/usa/356562-pentagon-account-trillion-audit/
In one quarter of 2015, $2.8 trillion was adjusted by the US military. In 2015, $6.5 trillion was adjusted for the year. The inspector general found that 16,513 of 1.3 million records were removed from the Pentagon's budget system during the third quarter of the 2015 fiscal year. The D.F.A.S. Indianapolis quotes they were, "system-generated adjustments rather than manual." The Pentagon, the single largest US government bureaucracy, has been accused of delaying its financial accounting multiple times.
The argument here is that the Pentagon should have checks on it spending. The total market is affected negatively by explicit government spending. If the Pentagon can't account for the expenditure, why should the markets have to suffer because of outrageous budget?
As seen in the Reagan deficits of the early 1980s, there was an increase in defense spending, and big tax cuts. The government spends more bringing about many consequences: decreasing the overall savings of the economy, and increasing the interest rate.
https://www.rt.com/usa/356562-pentagon-account-trillion-audit/
I think it's a little outrageous, that the Pentagon, the single largest U.S. government bureaucracy can't keep track of its own financial records. The end of the article states that the same type of unjustified adjustment changes were already seen by the Army financial statements in 2010. If things like this have been happening for years, why aren't the auditors reporting them? Who would the Pentagon even answer to? It wouldn't surprise me if this is part of some super secret cover up or if this is just how the Pentagon always acts. For as high up as this department is, you think they would have test run their system that does their finances for them to ensure accuracy before using it for real.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that there are such discrepancies involving such large amounts of money on a regular basis is in deed very outrageous. Also, it seems that the government quiet blase as the the article said, "However, the military has reportedly downplayed the severity of the findings." The problem of over-spending has been a problem for a while, and it will not be fixed anytime soon. I agree that this will continue to deplete overall savings, raising the interest rate.
ReplyDeleteHaving worked in NYC this summer, I was subject to significant taxes on my summer job pay checks. That misplaced, cool, $6.5 trillion could have done a lot a good for a lot of people. This is not the kind of shady work I want my tax dollars put to. When cases of extreme over spending, and lack of transparency like this occur in our government organizations, it becomes very distressing to me; Moreover, with the upcoming election at center stage in today's media, I would be surprised if this were not a subject of debate for our 2 top-knotch presidential candidates. Hopefully someone will answer for this mishap. To your point Pat, I know many companys, like Netflix, run rigorous tests on their systems, accounting for the worst case every time. You would think the government could be at, or above the level of NETFLIX's testing regiment...
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