You and I have been ROBBED!

[gonefishie]

This is just f..ing ridiculous if it's true, I am speechless.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070216/LOCAL17/702160505/0/LOCAL

The three top auditors overseeing work in Iraq told a House committee their review of $57 billion in Iraq contracts found that Defense and State department officials condoned or allowed repeated work delays, and bloated expenses and payments for shoddy work or work never done.
More than one in six dollars charged by U.S. contractors was questionable or unsupported, nearly triple the amount of waste the Government Accountability Office estimated last fall.

[/quote]

So far, the Bush administration has spent more than $350 billion on the Iraq war and reconstruction effort.

[/quote]

Think about this, a nice used boat or some brand new boats would cost about 20 grand each. 350 billion divided by 20 thousand would equal 17.5 million boats. Or, if you would prefer, 1,162 dollar for every person in the United States. The current census is 301,186,376

 

[rolmops]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

That is what happens when you stay the course without using your brain.
It is quite typical of how this war was planned, started and executed.
If we would have done some cutting, nobody could have run with the money.
But you know,it is all part of the good old capitalist system.
Joe Shmo gets screwed,while the fat cats steal the money.

 

[Bondo]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

I just went,+ read it,.......

There's ALOT more Spin that Facts in there.......

 

[Bob Fort]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

So...the point of this post is that expenditure thefts in Iraq are pretty much on the same level as many local, state and national expenditures from the taxpayer coffers here in the US of A....?

 

[Laddies]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

Gee, it's hard to beleive that the people we elect would p!ss our money away. I did not know that they would do that, should we blame that on the Republicans or the Democrats? After all they both keep proving we have the best elected officals money can buy--Bob

 

[gonefishie]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

Bondo> I hopes that they SPIN the heck out of that story because I would feel better if they did.

Bob Fort> The point of the post is that we wasted money on the people that really don't give a rat behind about us. I would rather see that money being spent on the whole American public not just some.

 

[oddjob]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

I just went,+ read it,.......

There's ALOT more Spin that Facts in there.......

Thanks Dude, I 'd rather not have to read it anyway. I've been hearing people talk that line since the waR STArted.

 

[Parrott_head]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

In a nutshell the auditors for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have reviewed 57 billion of the 350 billion spent so far in Iraq. The GAO says about 10 billion has been wasted for various reasons.

That works out to about 17% waste so far.

If the rate of waste stays constant the total dollar amount wasted could be as much as $59,500,000,000.00 (59 billion)

Halliburton accounted for 2.7 billion of the 10 billion figure.

 

[Bondo]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

The three top auditors overseeing work in Iraq told a House committee their review of $57 billion in Iraq contracts found that Defense and State department officials condoned or allowed repeated work delays, (Probably Came Under Fire from the Enemy, but Why mention that in an audit) and bloated expenses Things tend to get Expensive in a War Zone, with the Labor Bill,+ all) and payments for shoddy work Wasn't up to Code or What) or work never done Battle Zone Moved, or General changed his mind) .
More than one in six dollars charged by U.S. contractors was questionable or unsupported which means somebody forgot to Dot an i ), nearly triple the amount of waste the Government Accountability Office estimated last fall.

It's the Spin that can be thrown Either Way.....
And,....
This is Spun Against the War Effort.......................

 

[OldMercsRule]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

Gee, it's hard to beleive that the people we elect would p!ss our money away. I did not know that they would do that, should we blame that on the Republicans or the Democrats? After all they both keep proving we have the best elected officals money can buy--Bob

Yes Sir Bob! This is the post that makes the most sense ta me. Hard ta know about any so called "facts" from the media or the government beaureacrats, (as we all know they have no axe to grind what so ever). Any of our money, (taxes are our money), once it makes a trip through Washington DC, or Olympia, (in my case), gets worked over real hard before it lines the pockets at the end o' the trail. Domestic or Foriegn = same deal. JRps: let's vote for Dems so our taxes can go up!

 

[Parrott_head]

Re: You and I have been ROBBED!

Should an attempt be made to recover funds paid out without proper billing and proof of services provided?

If you don't go after cheaters and crooks whenever you find them you just encourage more of the same behavior.

To just say "boys will be boys" guarantees greater fraud.

Bunnitine Greenhouse, a career civil servent in the Senior Excutive Service gave testimony to congress that the the awarding of contracts to Kellog, Brown and Root, a division of Halliburton, was improper and potentially illegal due to influence by political appointees, participation of Halliburton officials in meeting where bidding requirements were discussed and lack of competition.

She was demoted three weeks later.

Senators Dorgan, Lautenberg and Rep. Waxman filed a pettition on her behalf protesting her demotion.

A PDF of the petition is here.
http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20050829160953-04500.pdf

Greenhouse gave her testimony on June 27, 2005.

Maybe if someone had given merit to her testimony the waste would have been less.