On Monday evening, March 18, seven U.S. Marines from North Carolina were tragically killed in a training accident at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada.
Never Ending Problems for the F-35
For the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, trouble has again reared its ugly head.
Odd Choices in Afghanistan
In late December 2012, the United States Air Force (USAF) did not renew its contract with Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italian-based defense contractor Finmeccanica, to refurbish and supply 20 G222s (also known as the C-27A) for the Afghan Air Force (AAF).
Tanking the Taxpayers
The hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks that Congress has approved for upgrades to the M1 Abrams are so “vital” for national security that the Department of Defense (DOD) has more than 2,000 of the tanks parked in a California desert.
More Oversight Needed for our Veterans
On January 24, 2011, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a report detailing the improper benefits given to disabled veterans. The report discussed temporary 100 percent benefits, which the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is supposed to continually monitor and reduce when necessary and concluded that the VBA made mistakes in “about 27,500 (15 percent) of these veterans’ evaluations.” These mistakes “will overpay veterans a projected $1.1 billion over the next 5 years.”
Defense Waste: The Final Frontier
As the country careens toward the automatic year-end program cuts and expiration of tax breaks labeled “the fiscal cliff,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been on the offensive, releasing reports in consecutive months highlighting wasteful spending in government. The November WasteWatcher detailed Sen. Coburn’s Wastebook 2012, which targeted 100 projects costing taxpayers more than $18 billion.
Defense Waste: The Final Frontier
Sean Kennedy As the country careens toward the automatic year-end program cuts and expiration of tax breaks labeled “the fiscal cliff,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been on the offensive, releasing reports in consecutive months highlighting wasteful spending in government. The November Wastewatcher detailed Sen. Coburn’s Wastebook 2012, which targeted 100 projects costing taxpayers more […]
Sequestration: The Sky is Not Falling
On August 2, 2011, Congress passed the Budget Control Act (BCA), which raised the debt limit, cut $917 billion in federal spending over 10 years, and established the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “super committee”). The super committee was supposed to produce legislation by November 23, 2011 to further reduce spending by at least $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Senate Appropriators Whiff on MEADS
Senate appropriators do not appear to have gotten the memo.
F-22 Plagued by Recurrent Problems, Cost, Lack of Mission
On the heels of much-publicized difficulties with the F-22 Raptor’s oxygen system, the Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $19 million contract to retrofit an automatic oxygen system on 40 of the planes it originally sold to the Air Force.