The Hypocrisy of Chuck Schumer

[Mountain Man]

I do not disagree with any of that. That does not, however, give the military a pass on accountability. To my knowledge, there has never been an audit of this part of the government, and there are huge blocks of money that have disappeared with no knowledge of where they went. I recognize that some part of the military will be involved with black-ops that should not be made public. That does not mean it should be without fiscal oversight of any kind. Before another budget increase for the military, I advocate for a complete audit to ensure that our finances are being properly used. Every other federal department is subject to that requirement. So too should the defense department.

I agree that accountability is a good thing, and I'm with you, the military doesn't deserve carte blanche without regulation. I was more responding to the fact that the US has a larger military budget, percentage wise, than any other developed country. I just get tired of seeing that statistic thrown around as if it's damning in and of itself when there is some important context that is often ignored.

[Mountain Man]

Come on, everyone knows stuff like that goes to Area 51.

$200 hammers. $600 toilet seats.

[carpedm9587]

I agree that accountability is a good thing, and I'm with you, the military doesn't deserve carte blanche without regulation. I was more responding to the fact that the US has a larger military budget, percentage wise, than any other developed country. I just get tired of seeing that statistic thrown around as if it's damning in and of itself when there is some important context that is often ignored.

It is not damning. It IS, however, indicative of the importance of accountability. At $622B in 2018, the military part of the U.S. budget is the second largest part of the budget, second only to Social Security, and followed by Medicare and Medicaid (https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-feder...akdown-3305789). Social Security is supposed to be fully paid for by the Social Security tax on all of our paychecks, but the federal government has been borrowing against the overpayments made over time, which means it now needs to start paying back some of that in order to keep the Social Security pot solvent. Meanwhile the military part of the budget has no oversight, and yet there are demands to add $50B to that budget. Before we add a penny, I want to know what is being done with what they already have, and why it is that the enormous sum currently being paid is not adequate to meet the need. If it's not, and that is shown to be true, I'm all for the additional funds. If there is fiscal mismanagement and they could get the extra $50B by simply cleaning their fiscal house - then I am not.

[Teallaura]

It is not damning. It IS, however, indicative of the importance of accountability. At $622B in 2018, the military part of the U.S. budget is the second largest part of the budget, second only to Social Security, and followed by Medicare and Medicaid (https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-feder...akdown-3305789). Social Security is supposed to be fully paid for by the Social Security tax on all of our paychecks, but the federal government has been borrowing against the overpayments made over time, which means it now needs to start paying back some of that in order to keep the Social Security pot solvent. Meanwhile the military part of the budget has no oversight, and yet there are demands to add $50B to that budget. Before we add a penny, I want to know what is being done with what they already have, and why it is that the enormous sum currently being paid is not adequate to meet the need. If it's not, and that is shown to be true, I'm all for the additional funds. If there is fiscal mismanagement and they could get the extra $50B by simply cleaning their fiscal house - then I am not.

You and MM aren't wrong - but there's a point neither of you have mentioned - exacting audits can kill soldiers. The reason is that funding information is a form of intelligence that can reveal a surprising amount about what the military is doing - sometimes with deadly results.

The $200 hammer hides research into weapons, deployments and tactics.

finding a responsible middle ground isn't always so easy.

[carpedm9587]

You and MM aren't wrong - but there's a point neither of you have mentioned - exacting audits can kill soldiers. The reason is that funding information is a form of intelligence that can reveal a surprising amount about what the military is doing - sometimes with deadly results.

The $200 hammer hides research into weapons, deployments and tactics.

finding a responsible middle ground isn't always so easy.

"Accountability" and "Public" aren't synonymous. It is possible for audits to be conducted by people with the required security clearances, and for accountability to be to selected members of Congress, or an independent watchdog, again with the appropriate security clearances. This is done for the FBI, NSA, and CIA with little/no compromise of safety. There is no reason it cannot be done for the defense department. Today, it remains the ONLY agency that has successfully and deliberately thwarted all attempts to audit its use of funds.

[Teallaura]

"Accountability" and "Public" aren't synonymous. It is possible for audits to be conducted by people with the required security clearances, and for accountability to be to selected members of Congress, or an independent watchdog, again with the appropriate security clearances. This is done for the FBI, NSA, and CIA with little/no compromise of safety. There is no reason it cannot be done for the defense department. Today, it remains the ONLY agency that has successfully and deliberately thwarted all attempts to audit its use of funds.

Um, I think that's a bit of an over statement - but I'm not going to argue degree here since we're in agreement for most of this.

[Mountain Man]

You and MM aren't wrong - but there's a point neither of you have mentioned - exacting audits can kill soldiers. The reason is that funding information is a form of intelligence that can reveal a surprising amount about what the military is doing - sometimes with deadly results.

The $200 hammer hides research into weapons, deployments and tactics.

finding a responsible middle ground isn't always so easy.

I think like most lay people, carpe and I excel at identifying the problems, we're just terrible at coming up with solutions.