releases: https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/editorial-mccaskill-helps-battle-military-wastefulness
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/editorial-mccaskill-helps-battle-military-wastefulness | Editorial: McCaskill helps battle military wastefulness | 2015-11-21 | 2015 | 2015-11 | Democrat | House | MO | Claire McCaskill | M001170 | www.mccaskill.senate.gov | legacy | Editorial: McCaskill helps battle military wastefulness Saturday, November 21, 2015 With social programs such as the Warrensburg Senior Center being forced to rely more on volunteers, and with less money to help people in need across the country because there is no money, heads should roll over a report of military wastefulness that carries the stench of outright thievery. The military spent nearly $43 million of taxpayers money about 8,000 percent more than estimated on an alternative fuel station in Afghanistan that had no practical application in the first place. Few Afghans can use a compressed gas station, USA Today reported, because the cost to convert a car to compressed gas is about $700 and the average annual income in Afghanistan is $690. At most, the station should have cost about $500,000 the same amount spent to build a similar station in Pakistan, Sen.Claire McCaskillsaid. There are few things in this job that literally make my jaw drop, McCaskill, an Armed Services Committee senior member, stated. But of all the examples of wasteful projects in Iraq and Afghanistan that the Pentagon began prior to our wartime contracting reforms, this genuinely shocked me. Its hard to imagine a more outrageous waste of money than building an alternative fuel station in a war-torn country that costs 8,000 percent more than it should, and is too dangerous for a watchdog to verify whether it is even operational. Perhaps equally outrageous; however, is that the Pentagon has apparently shirked its responsibility to fully account for the taxpayer money thats been wasted, an unacceptable lack of transparency that Ill be thoroughly investigating. At this point, McCaskill stated, she can not get paperwork accounting for the spending, which adds to the troubling aspect of the situation, since she is on the Armed Services Committee. The situation begs the question: Why is the military stalling on answers to a simple accounting question from Missouris former state auditor? Certain segments of society screamed when a southern California beach bum used food stamps to buy lobster in 2013. There have been calls, including by Missouri Rep.Rick Brattin, to make the lives of food stamp recipients even more severe by forbidding them to use the money to buy cookies, chips, energy drinks, soft drinks, seafood or steak. Knowing the few dollars a person might use to make bad food choices can raise such calls for food justice, the militarys travesty involving $43 million should bring out the hounds of Congress to begin investigations. The situation regarding military spending waste is not isolated. The F-35, which some want to use to replace the A-10s, is by many considered overpriced and under-performing, with CNN reporting in July that the high-tech jets are a staggering $200 billion over budget and three years behind schedule. Canada is so concerned about the F-35 that the country is considering pulling out of a plan to buy 65 of the aircraft, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. That over budget money could support education, health care and the poor, but instead is gone and the F-35 still does not perform to everyones satisfaction. Overpaying for spare parts, buying duplicative equipment, and accepting massive cost overruns on major weapons programs has become business as usual at the Pentagon. One of the biggest drivers of this waste, fraud and abuse is that the Pentagon cannot pass a simple audit, nearly 20 years after Congress required that it do so, Huffington Post stated Nov. 13. McCaskill, a former Missouri state auditor, is right to try to make the military accountable for spending. The rest of Congress should follow that lead. The American military needs the best equipment plus the best training to remain the best at doing the vital job of preserving freedom, but nothing in that equation requires looking the other way when Americans see waste; indeed, there should be a laser-like intensity when looking at all government spending. Print Email Tweet | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |