The Pentagon awarded $285 billion in three years to companies that defrauded it, according to a report produced at the request of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The study has generated editorials and columns in newspapers and magazines around the county.
‘The dollar amounts are large enough to justify public anger at the sloppy way the Pentagon conducts its ‘ our nation’s ‘ business. If our government’s going to spend all that money on behalf of military preparedness, at least the people should get their money’s worth,’ the Barre and Montpelier Times Argus said in an editorial.
‘Fraud is big business at the Pentagon. Always has been, always will be. When you're spending more than $1 million a minute, some is bound to be pilfered one way or another. But it's rare to find all such chicanery cataloged in one place. Thanks to Sen. Sanders we now have one-stop shopping for Pentagon fraud,’ according to Time magazine.
"A Washington Rip-off," was the headline over a Detroit Free Press editorial that said, ‘Ripping off the U.S. military for millions of dollars doesn't keep defense firms from getting new contracts worth hundreds of billions more.’ The (San Francisco) Examiner cited the report as its ‘daily outrage.’
The Nation’s John Nichols said it was ‘shocking’ that the Department of Defense ‘continue[s] the practice of steering taxpayer dollars into the bank accounts of contractors that the courts say intentionally stole money from the federal government.’ He called Sanders ‘the Senate’s chief watchdog when it comes to the frivolous and fraudulent financial dealings of major federal agencies.’
‘If the government wants to reduce fraud, it can start by punishing those who have been convicted of it,’ MetroWest Daily News in Boston said. ‘At the very least, Congress and the administration should make it clear to every contractor that those who defraud the taxpayers will face not only fines and jail time, but will lose forever their biggest customer.’
‘Thumbs down to the Defense Department for rewarding companies that have ripped it off,’ scolded The (Appleton, Wis.) Post-Crescent.
‘Part of the problem, of course, is the sheer size of the federal bureaucracy and the fact that one hand often doesn't know what the other is doing,’ according to an editorial in The Battle Creek (Mich.) Enquirer. ‘Better and more efficient use must be made of the information available through the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System. Thanks to Sanders, that database information will be available to the public beginning in mid-April, and all Americans will be privy to the same information about contractor fraud.’
To read the Pentagon report, click here.
To read a Sanders staff analysis of the report, click here.
Source: Sanders' office. WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 ‘
Sanders report exposes $285 billion in Pentagon contractor fraud
Submitted by tim
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