As budget hawks continue their attack on spending cuts around the country, it might be useful to look at the Pentagon after a report released Thursday claimed that at least $7 billion in taxpayer funds is being wasted on purchases of spare parts that the military ends up not needing.

The Pentagon’s 2010 budget of $663.8 billion is more than seven times the combined military budgets of the next 14 ranking nations. –JCL

Reuters:

A Pentagon agency buys over $7 billion worth of spare parts every year the Defense Department ends up not needing, a practice one senator decried as an “unbelievable” waste of taxpayer money.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a new report released on Thursday that the Defense Logistics Agency had no use for parts worth $7.1 billion, more than half of the $13.7 billion in equipment stacked in Defense Department warehouses on average from 2006 to 2008.

“The waste of taxpayer dollars is unbelievable,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent and Senate Budget Committee member who requested the study.

Read more

Your support is crucial...

As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.

Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.

Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG