Plenty Of Fat In Military Budget To Cut

We've been hearing lately from the Republicans that cuts can't be made to our military -- that cutting our military budget (which is several times larger than any other country on Earth) would put our nation in danger. That's simply not true. Not only are there many unneeded programs that could be cut, but there is rampant fraud in the system.

We've already heard about $700 hammers and $30 screws, and the military promised to get rid of that kind of fraud. But now we learn that it is still going on. The U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, has released a review showing the military is still overpaying for items provided by private contractors.

A private contractor named Anham has a $3.9 billion contract with the military, and it looks like they're trying to squeeze out every dime they can from that contract by overcharging the military. The IG's review shows that company has been charging the military $900 for a control switch that can be bought for $7. They are also charging the military $3000 for a $100 circuit breaker and $80 for a plumbing item that sells for $1.41.

This company is not the first to be found overcharging the military for items or services provided in Iraq (and Afghanistan), and I'm sure they won't be the last. It's starting to look like fraud is rampant among the private contractors working for the military.

This started when George Bush and Dick Cheney decided that private contractors, being businessmen, could provide services and supplies in a more cost-effective way than the military could. But it hasn't worked out that way. Instead of tapping into good cost-effective business practices, the government has tapped into old-fashioned corporate greed. These private contractors are using Iraq and Afghanistan as their golden key to the United States Treasury.

There are just some things that should be done by government rather than private business (such as police, fire protection, prisons, etc.), and one of those things is supplying and supporting the military in time of war. If we had used private contractors in World War II the way we use then in Iraq and Afghanistan, we'd still be paying today for the fraud and overcharging.

Just eliminating the fraud and overcharging by private contractors would cut an enormous amount off the military budget. Then eliminating unneeded weapons systems, duplicative systems, and pie-in-the-sky experimental systems would cut another huge chunk out of that budget. I think the military budget could be cut severely without touching soldiers' pay and benefits or the weapons they need to do their job efficiently.

By treating the military budget as a sacred cow and giving more of the load to private contractors, we have let the budget get way out of control. It's time to change the way things are done. We simply can't afford the inefficiency and fraud anymore.