Why the Government Waste So Much Money-(part 1)

I work for the government as you all know and I hate when our government wastes my tax dollar, as I am sure you do as well. I am going to point out some ways our government blows money that really irritates me. You can agree or disagree; this is what I see from my position, which I am not in the lower scale. If you see or know of any other ways our government is wasting money, besides the Muller investigation, please send them to me. I work or have worked between the State Department and Department of Defense for many years. On both home fronts, I have seen waste at taxpayers’ expense, and the “Fraud, Waste, and Abuse” program, where you identify these type actions, very seldom act, so do not hold your breath. If there is a person, they want to target, they will, but if it is someone special, they can get away with murder.

Some of the waste is easy to spot. While we were hurting for money for equipment maintenance, to maintain our readiness, our 0-5 bought all new furniture for his office. The cost was $60K, but his predecessor replaced the furniture in his office two years earlier. We had problems keeping our readiness for war in the green yet most every 0-5 who took over every 2 years always bought $60K or more of new office furniture. You will have people say, “That is a different color (pot) of money, but I know in the position I am in, that you can change the color of money to meet mission requirements. We had six 0-5 where I was stationed, that is $300K wasted every two years. The office furniture the enlisted were using looked like it came from the Korean War, it was broken and piece milled together to get part of it to work. Why not spend it where needed, on the enlisted? This would be the same color of money. Throughout all branches of the military, you have around 25,091 officers in these positions, which is a waste of $1.5 billion every two years. Let us say only two thirds of the officers do this, that is still $1 billion every two years and this does not count the thousands of Generals from O-7 to O-10.

Another area where the DoD loses billions and even our troops lives is when politics play a part in the equipment the military gets. We were testing six vehicles designed to protect our troops in a combat environment for dependability, operational ability, and IED (improvised explosive device) blast protection. The one vehicle, which failed in all areas, was the one the administration directed the military to buy to help boost the economy of a state before the upcoming senator race. The Democratic senator won his election, but it was at the cost of over 100 troops losing their lives. Politics placing our troops in an inferior vehicle for political reasons caused these deaths. The cost, in lives was not the only price; the administration directed the military to blow $30 billion of their budget on these inferior vehicles. Politicians should NEVER be a part of what the military choses for equipment, every time they are, we lose more lives that are military.

Let us look at another political problem costing the military a fortune. In 2012, the Air Force and Navy, directed by the Obama Administration, had to buy Bio Fuel for their aircraft and ships. JP-8, jet fuel, at the time cost $3.60 dollars per gallon; the Jet Bio Fuel cost $59 dollars per gallon. The fuel bought from Gevo Inc, an Obama and Democratic donor cost 16.4 times more than JP8. With the Air Force and Navy using 23.3 billion gallons of Jet Fuel a year, it would take the cost from $83.88 billion dollars a year to $1.374 trillion a year. Sense neither the Air Force, or the Navy have that kind of extra money to blow; they had to cut all training for readiness to 20% of the previous year. The Bio-Fuel side effect was it destroyed the jets fighters’ engines, which added another $1.5 million dollars per engine change. I am 100% for Bio-Fuel and renewable energy when it is reasonable and works, this did neither.

We can fix this easily; pass a law that says, “No person or entity who receives money or their subsidiary receives money from any US Government, State Government, or Local government contract can donate to any political party, candidate, or cause. If caught they will be ban from all future US Government, State Government, or Local government contract.” We need to pass another one that says, “No tax-exempt entity who receives one dime from a foreign donor nor any government grants or subsidies can donate to a political party, candidate, or cause. If caught, they lose their tax-exempt status.” This would solve many of these problems and very quickly.

We had a project, which was broken into three parts. The contractor wanted 1.6 million to complete all parts. I talked the PM into letting me do two parts, which by myself only took two months to complete. The PM paid them 600K for the third part, but do you really believe the work I did was worth a million dollars.

We had a part on a piece of equipment, which the civilian side used in applications; it was the exact same part, part number, and Form, Function, and Fit (FFF). Civilian side cost was $600 dollars; military cost was $1,800 dollars. I price challenged this part and it was rejected. The yearly cost across all branches was near $30 million dollars, we could have saved close to $20 million dollars by forcing fair market value but leadership refused.

I watched seven projects, which anyone with my skill set could have completed within a year, cost the government close to $30 million dollars; just give me 10% of what you save and I will be happy.

Speaking of government contractors, many of them bleed all government agencies of every dime they can get no matter if they fulfill their contract or not. This is the norm when it comes to government contractors. I watch daily as all parts of the government dishes out millions to companies, to do the same type projects I do, never meeting standard or time, yet getting paid massive amounts of money.

If you did this throughout the Federal Government, you would save at a minimum $400 billion dollars a year. The effect would be these companies would start giving a reasonable price, instead of an inflated price, or we would do it in house. It took 102 days in WWII to design and build a prototype of the P-51 Mustang, yet with all our innovations, it will take 4 years to get a production model of even a simple item. The contractors milk it for all they got.

You can believe it or not, this is a small fry, the military is probably the best agency for not wasting the taxpayer’s money when compared to the State Department, IRS, EPA, and of course our US Congress. I would say 90% of the military waste is directly due to interference and mandated by our politicians. When you see the Defense budget, most of it is Pork Spending, by both Democrats and Republicans, which the military never sees. If you look at the attachments of pork to the Defense Budget, you will come up with over $197 billion dollars of pork. The military on average gets 20% of the budget so let us pass a bill where the military automatically gets 20% every year, and then there will be no attached pork.

The State Department is a master at hiding what they do, unless you look at Hilary’s server. They have a base budget of $51.7 billion dollars but often it does not go to where it should as we seen in Benghazi, which allowed the Benghazi attack to be successful. When you look at their definitions of spending, it is all smoking mirrors. If you look, they spent over $7 million dollars on “Diplomatic Engagement”, what does that mean? They spent $30 million dollars on “Conventional Weapons Destruction”, yah right, when you have Conventional Weapons; you can used them for their own destruction. The UN is currently claims $100 million dollars State Department money for liberated areas; I thought that was why we gave them a budget. They spent $275.0 million dollars on the Syria Recovery Trust Fund, the same Syria who is supporting Radical Islamic Terrorist fighting against our soldiers. Think about that. They spent $390 million dollars on stabilization, stabilization of what? Their accounting is so vague, it is hard to tell anything they are sending money to.

IRS spent $4.1 million on one conference in 2012; in 2010, they had spent $37.5 million on one conference according to the NYT. Even events held in employees’ own town, the IRS allowed these employees to get hotel rooms, some costing $3,500 dollars a night. These same employees were targeting people on their political or social views and needed fired. They are blowing millions, if not billions of taxpayers’ dollars while discriminating based on political views and even race. Liberals and their bias need removed from all government agency just as any conservatives with bias. These unwarranted investigations into law-abiding citizens and groups cost the government millions in time and litigation. Of the core $11 billion the IRS receives, it is about 60% pork for everything from $3,500 dollars a night hotel rooms to million dollar art appropriations. It is hard to give you an exact number because even though they are a government agency and must show financials, it is almost impossible to decipher without their key. If they used this money correctly to stay in modern times, they would not still be using faxes. They also gave $92 million dollars in bonuses, even to the people who were targeting people and groups.

The EPA in 2009 was funded at $7,643,674,000 dollars and it was raised to $10,297,864,000 dollars in 2010. It went up a whapping 35% but they only hired 229 more people; that is $11,590,349 per person; does something seem off here to you? Even if everyone hired was paid $100K, that would only be $22.9 million dollars so where is the other $2,631,290,000 dollars? The EPA spent $19. 5 million dollars on testing of cow farts, yes you heard me right. The EPA gave $28 million dollars to the Chinese for the purposes of treating swine manure.

Our US Congress people are the worse, they are responsible for all the above but even have some specials for themselves. You have James Moran (D-VA) who wrangled $98,257 for a shuttle from the Congressman's home to DC. There is Charles Schumer (D-NY) who wrangled $190,000 for artwork. Not to be topped by Howard Berman (D-CA) who wrangled $200,000 for a tattoo removal program. From our biggest state has Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who wrangled $238,000 for PTA training. Then Liberal Chris Shays (R-CT) managed to wrangled $1.9 million for Pleasure Beach taxi service. He was not to be out done by Carl Levin (D-MI) who wrangled $3.8 million to save a baseball stadium.

This is just a few examples, there are literally thousands and as you can see, they come from both sides. You must ask yourself, why are they allowed to do this. These politicians think our money is theirs for the taking. Many people do not know, but when this country was founded, all the operating funds came from tariffs, not taxes. I think we need to get back to it.

Let me know what you think.

The Police Problem

I have said before, 95% of the police over all are good honest people. The question is, “Why can they not get rid of the 5% of bad police?” There are many areas to look into for the Root Cause of the “Police Problem”. To fix any problem you must first, identify the problems, second; find the Root Causes, third; implement fix, Forth; validate fix, and last adjust fix as needed. The problem is, most people put a Band-Aid on the symptom and never address the Root cause. Another problem is, when a fix does not work, many in the higher ranks refuse to recognize their failure because of pride and arrogance. You cannot fix the problem unless you identify and fix the Root Causes. This may cause another symptom to arise; you fix it too.

 “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. Albert Einstein

So what are the Root Causes?

There are several reasons I think we have these problems. First is the politicians using of the police to be a moneymaker. Instead of the police moto to “Protecting and Serve”, many cities have turned their police force into a money making machine; their moto now is “Profit and Steal.” They run speed traps, escalating tickets to gain more revenue, and let other crimes go because they gain zero revenue from arresting a petty thief; you cannot get blood, or in this case money, from a turnip. The police chiefs and sheriffs need to push back on this so we can get police back to what they are designed to do, “Protecting and Serve”. This is a main reason citizens do not trust the cops anymore; instead of helping you, they want to fine you.

Second is the use of the police to clean up an area before an election. If you are a Police Chief or Sheriff and told to clean up a certain area for political reasons, you need to grow a set. This is what caused the Freddie Gray situation in Baltimore when Baltimore City State's Attorney, Marilyn Mosby ordered the police to clean up her husband’s area before the upcoming election. Mr. Gray died and Mrs. Mosby next quest was to win political points by falsely accusing the police department and trumping up false charges. If the Baltimore Police Commissioner, Anthony W. Batts, had had a set, this would have never happened. If you are not going to patrol an area correct to begin with, why only do it when someone needs to win an election? If the politicians would let you do your job instead of using you as a moneymakers, these areas would not need cleaned up. In many cities, the causes of many people’s death, traced directly to Liberal policies.

Third is good police officers do not report the bad actors (Criminal Cops) because of the “Blue Line” and fear of retaliation. There is an intra-brotherhood/sisterhood of police protected by other police. They protect bad actors no matter the crime they commit and are accomplices themselves. You can find these Bad Actors in any police force, but are concentrated more within large Liberal cities. You can hear excuses for their criminality from, “it is the Commissioner’s son”, “he is a retired cop”, “his family has a police linage for 100 years”, or “we had to do it because the law would not”; none of these are acceptable.

Look at Officer Joseph Reiman from Carteret, New Jersey, who almost beat a teen to death yet he was charged with a misdemeanor instead of felony assault. The Carteret, New Jersey police force has 50 police officers, which from the time Mr. Reiman was hired, has had 115 excessive force complaints. Of the complaints, 24 were on Mr. Reiman, which is 21% of the complaints. Mr. Reiman, one police officer, accounts for a fifth of all Police Complaints, he is violent and should not be a cop, but in jail. NBC covered two Georgia cops beating and kicking a man even after handcuffed, they had been doing this for years. Luckily, a passerby recorded it and their leadership, who knew how they were, cannot cover for them anymore. I have personally seen drunk cops and judges driven home, cops who beat their wives do so with complete immunity, and a cop who murdered a man over a girl, his charges, nothing, he was the mayor’s nephew. Chicago had over 40 complaints against two officers caught making false statements, falsifying charges, and threatening citizens, yet they are still working, they need fired and prosecuted. You have police breaking into people’s houses without warrants because they believe they are above the law. What they did they knew was wrong, they need fired and prosecuted. You have police assaulting people, kicking them in the face, who are subdued which allowed a possible DUI drive go free yet the police kicker is on paid leave, he should be fired and jailed. They have arrested Public Defenders for defending their clients and collected information illegally. They did this to make a case against her client, totally ignoring the law and Fourth Amendment. Believe it or not, the unarmed Glenn Broadnax, of Brooklyn was shot at by police near time square, he was then subdued by a police sergeant using a Taser. Why was that not done first? He is now under indictment for assault for the police wounding to people while shooting at him. Do you not think the cops should be charged for reckless discharge of a firearm?

Cops commit crimes at the same level of civilians according to a study by The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post’s figures show civilians arrested at 3.9% while the police are arrest only 0.0017% for the same crime. Why is this? Are cops really 2300% better citizens then the rest of the citizens? No, they and their leadership cover it up. This needs to stop but only good cops can stop this, otherwise they are accomplices.

Fourth is Police Union care more about money and power then getting dangerous, homicidal cops off the street. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) is the cause of more innocent people’s suffering and deaths then all the mobsters in America. There are, of course, police officers who are fired for committing egregious misbehavior by commanding officers. The police leadership, using safety standards, who decided that a given abuse makes them unfit for a badge and gun, are undercut by the unions. When some police leadership try to fire nefarious police officers, they are either blocked or forced to rehire the same officers by the unions. Police unions help many of those cops to get their jobs back, often via secretive appeals geared to protect labor rights rather than public safety. Cops deemed unqualified by their own bosses are put back on the streets. They try to justify the Bad Actors actions stating, “They are a really a good cop, they just slipped for a moment.” Some slips are understandable because we are all human, but we all, including the police, need held accountable for their actions. When the police harass and assault citizens, they need fired and jailed.

Fifth is the police, in many cases, have become Judge, Jury, and Executioner. They are not upholding the law but using a badge to commit murder. I believe every cop has the right at the end of the day to go home to his or her family, but so does everyone else. You have police officer with a history of violence used illegal chokeholds and MURDERING citizens. The coroner classified it as a “Homicide” yet this officer is still working. You have officers who make threats up out of their mind to harass and in many cases, shoot innocent people who are no threat like Philip "Mitch" Brailsford who shot a man (start at 4:20) in cold blood crawling to him on his hands and knees as ordered. I do not know how the court found Mr. Brailsford innocent, but any police chief with common sense should have fired him. This kid was murdered. The unarmed Stephon Clark shot at 21 times by police. The official coroner's report said he was shot seven times, three times in the back, the private autopsy showed only one shot in the front. When you watch the video, fire shots and he hits the ground immediately. The police pause looking at a non-moving or non-threatening person and start shooting again. Why did they keep shooting? There was no threat. You wonder why the people do not trust the police anymore; maybe they are afraid of being MURDERED!

How do we fix the problem? I think that there should be a National Law Officer Registry with every police officer in it from the FBI down to the one-person town police force. I think in this registry should be their training, achievements, years served, record of different police forces they served with, disciplinary actions, Internal Affair investigations with results, complaints against the officer with results of the investigations, and if they have ever been fired with the firing person’s statement with the officer statement. Only the police leadership can query their people, but the officers can query themselves. When a police chief or sheriff wants to hire someone, they will receive full access to their file for review. No police force will allow unions contracts to prevent the above measures from being followed and implemented.

It sounds great does it not. It would be great and would help prevent Bad Actors (bad polices officers) from bouncing from one place to another like they currently do when they get in trouble. Who is the number one group against this? It is the police unions. I am not against or for police unions, unless they are protecting bad actors (READ) and put the public at risk as this shows. Police unions have allowed police rapist to get off scot-free or enabled them to rape again. I wonder how many police have committed murder and go away with it scot-free? Many were videotaped; New York City Police officer Daniel Pantaleo, doing an illegal and banned chokehold, murdered Eric Garner. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, yet Mr. Pantaleo is still a NYPD officer patrolling the streets. Thanks “New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association”. The NYCPBA home page says, “Keep Cop-Killers in Jail for Life” which I agree with, I just want the same for Killer-Cops. Some police unions are good, others just want money, power, and do not care who gets hurt in the process. Today, some police officers think because they wear a badge that the law does not apply to them or gives them special rights. They think they are above the law, it gives them the right to violate your rights, this is due to bad leadership and bad police unions like NYCPBA protecting not only Thug-Police but also Killer-Cops.