MSU SCHOLARS FIND $21 TRILLION IN UNAUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT SPENDING; DEFENSE DEPARTMENT TO CONDUCT FIRST-EVER AUDIT

[Dashinka 24,793]

Earlier this year, a Michigan State University economist, working with graduate students and a former government official, found $21 trillion in unauthorized spending in the departments of Defense and Housing and Urban Development for the years 1998-2015.

The work of Mark Skidmore and his team, which included digging into government websites and repeated queries to U.S. agencies that went unanswered, coincided with the Office of Inspector General, at one point, disabling the links to all key documents showing the unsupported spending. (Luckily, the researchers downloaded and stored the documents.)

Now, the Department of Defense has announced it will conduct the first department-wide, independent financial audit in its history (read the Dec. 7 announcement here).

The Defense Department did not say specifically what led to the audit. But the announcement came four days after Skidmore discussed his team’s findings on USAWatchdog, a news outlet run by former CNN and ABC News correspondent Greg Hunter.

“While we can’t know for sure what role our efforts to compile original government documents and share them with the public has played, we believe it may have made a difference,” said Skidmore, the Morris Chair in State and Local Government Finance and Policy at MSU.

Skidmore got involved last spring when he heard Catherine Austin Fitts, former assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development, refer to a report which indicated the Army had $6.5 trillion in unsupported adjustments, or spending, in fiscal 2015. Given the Army’s $122 billion budget, that meant unsupported adjustments were 54 times spending authorized by Congress. Typically, such adjustments in public budgets are only a small fraction of authorized spending.  

Skidmore thought Fitts had made a mistake. “Maybe she meant $6.5 billion and not $6.5 trillion,” he said. “So I found the report myself and sure enough it was $6.5 trillion.”

 

http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/msu-scholars-find-21-trillion-in-unauthorized-government-spending-defense-department-to-conduct/

[Neonred 3,647]

• Just watched his youtube video yesterday. 

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

I can attest to this being a Federal Employee. I have found things that are cheaper than the GSA price but you must go through the GSA to order things. 

 

Also notice how two days before 9/11 the DOD came out and said they were missing money, then 9/11 happened and nothing else was brought up about it. I am not a conspiracy theorist but it does get you thinking. 

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The swamp is the swamp

[Póg mo 1,749]

How do you hide 21 trillion? If it is true. Where did this money come from? And is there another $21 trillion in government debt that's hidden from public view? I find it hard to believe that they could possibly hide such overspending, but I wouldn't entirely be surprised either.

 

[Dashinka 24,793]

10 minutes ago, Póg mo said:

How do you hide 21 trillion? If it is true. Where did this money come from? And is there another $21 trillion in government debt that's hidden from public view? I find it hard to believe that they could possibly hide such overspending, but I wouldn't entirely be surprised either.

 

Hence the much needed audit.