Hundreds of defense contractors that defrauded the U.S. military received more than $1.1 trillion in Pentagon contracts during the past decade, according to a Department of Defense report prepared for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
It's a funny thing, you know; despite the fact that it's been anecdotal knowledge since the Viet Nam era that the Dept. of Defense is routinely taken to the cleaners by its contractors, no one in Congress has done much to end the culture of abuse. That could be because our corrupt campaign finance rules allow lobbyists to pretty much govern the agenda up on the Hill.
The perpetrators continue to be rewarded with more and bigger contracts. Witness:
...Lockheed Martin in 2008 paid $10.5 million to settle charges that it defrauded the government by submitting false invoices on a multi-billion dollar contract connected to the Titan IV space launch vehicle program... the Defense Department (then) gave Lockheed $30.2 billion in contracts in fiscal year 2009...
Northrop Grumman paid $62 million in 2005 to settle charges that it "engaged in a fraud scheme by routinely submitting false contract proposals," and "concealed basic problems in its handling of inventory, scrap and attrition...Northrop Grumman received $12.9 billion in contracts the next year, 16 percent more than the year before.
Lavishly courted by lobbyists themselves, the Department of Defense insisted last January:
'the department believes that existing remedies with respect to contractor wrongdoing are sufficient."
But now, in response to the report from Sen. Sanders they change their tune:
"It is not clear, however, that these remedies are sufficient ... to deter and punish fraud when it is detected."
It may not be clear to the DOD, but it certainly is to Senator Sanders who proposes increased scrutiny of defense contracts, compilation of a fraud database, and much stiffer penalties for offenders.
Said Sanders: "It is clear that DOD's current approach is not working and we need far more vigorous enforcement to protect taxpayers from massive fraud."
One has to wonder why the same swift justice has not been applied to DOD contractors who engage in systemic fraud, that was applied to ACORN following a single biased and unprofessional set-up.
Just another example of the double standard of justice served up to the 1% versus the 99%.
It will take more than a single Senator's earnest efforts to bring about change, but when has there been a better opportunity to place Pentagon waste due to fraud under scrutiny, than right now, as we are seeing our trusted social safety nets under attack from the right?
Effectively penalizing those who have defrauded taxpayers through the Pentagon sounds most attractive as one alternative. |
