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Started By
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re: Pentagon spending - on crabs, salmon and 1,800 dollar chairs
Posted on 3/11/26 at 7:27 am to The Pirate King
Posted on 3/11/26 at 7:27 am to The Pirate King
quote:
This is not new
This is true, I remember in the late 70s-early 80s 60 Minutes or one of those type shows doing a segment about 100 dollar hammers and other ridiculous prices like that. As already said in here the Pentagon going through all their budget money each year so they can get the same or more the next year is definitely a big part of it.
Another is just simple grift. Say the contractor tells them the hammers are 10 dollars a piece. They tell them make it a hundred a piece and we'll split the extra 90 among ourselves. My guess is there's plenty of that going on, has been going on and no one is stopping it any time soon
2
Posted on 3/11/26 at 7:47 am to FredBear
quote:
100 dollar hammers
Not really the same thing. Many black projects, things that due to the nature of the project were kept off the books, were funded with 1000 dollar hammers and 5000 dollar toilet seats.
These projects range from R&D to operational budgets for elite, non-existent units.
Posted on 3/11/26 at 7:51 am to Rouge
quote:
As I just said, that level of fiscal irresponsibility is the problem. The motivation behind the budgetary spending rules is to spend it all or fear losing budget for the next year. Why don't we encourage savings or reallocation to other projects (if you HAVE to spend it) instead of this? Absolutely frivolous spending just to maintain budgets?
I don’t disagree with you and in a micro level this is easily fixed. The problem is scale.
Once scaled, just wrangling in the spending becomes an expensive endeavor. Then incorporate all of the necessary spending that gets scrutinized to the point where effectiveness is degraded.
You’re right in the moral sense, but in practice, this could become a nightmare. I don’t have an answer for that.
Posted on 3/11/26 at 8:04 am to blueboy
quote:
WTF is this and do you have any?
Its Alaskan King Crabs and they are quite expensive. At alaskankingcrab.com one crab shipped to you costs $275
Posted on 3/11/26 at 8:32 am to Bonkers119
quote:
But Republicans are worried about people buying soda with their food stamps lmao.
Honestly, both suck, but the food stamps thing has an enormous ripple effect. Poor people are becoming increasingly unhealthy and clogging up the healthcare system. The food stamp issue is compounding.
That said, they need to figure this DoD/Pentagon shite out. That's absurd.
Posted on 3/11/26 at 12:16 pm to Salmon
Exactly
Posted on 3/11/26 at 12:27 pm to FredBear
After 9-11 it was a free-for-all on tacticool gear. Government bought up anything and everything they could get their hands on.
Posted on 3/11/26 at 12:39 pm to Bobby OG Johnson
I obviously support the military, but don't give me this shite about "its not something that can be explained unless you live it" bullshite.
So if the budget didn't have 10s of millions of dollars that needed to be spent by the end of the year then there is no Alaskan King Crabs of $15 million worth of ribeye's. So the military only deserves a good meal if there is extra money in the budget? If it matters that much it should be in the budget... right?
So if the budget didn't have 10s of millions of dollars that needed to be spent by the end of the year then there is no Alaskan King Crabs of $15 million worth of ribeye's. So the military only deserves a good meal if there is extra money in the budget? If it matters that much it should be in the budget... right?
Posted on 3/11/26 at 12:58 pm to Eurocat
Amazing how he can spend that much but they want to crack down on veterans compensation
The hypocrisy is sickening
The hypocrisy is sickening
Posted on 3/11/26 at 1:05 pm to OweO
quote:
OweO
I hope they do it again this weekend and post videos & pictures all over the internet so y'all can continue crying
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:04 pm to The Pirate King
quote:
Considering the defense budget is $850 BILLION dollars a year, including billions on planes, ships, and missiles, the spending you're talking about is marginal and may very well be needed next year like if...oh wait, we have to attack Iran in Q1 2026. People who bawk at the defense budget are not bright
So your position is that smart people should be happy that one department wasted hundreds of millions of dollars and then were rewarded with the goods they purchased which are things most can’t enjoy or don’t enjoy more often because they have to pay more and more taxes.
And that it’s ok they wasted was only $26.5 roughly on high end food, over $225 million on high end luxury furniture, and almost $2 million on musical instruments for high ranking officials, and it’s ok because they spent/wasted $9.6 billion?
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:05 pm to Eurocat
MSN???
Seriously??
Seriously??
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:14 pm to DonJuanDaMiles
quote:
wasted hundreds of millions of dollars
Link?
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:19 pm to Eurocat
Here is an article on OpenTheBooks‘ report in Jan 2025 about Sep 2024. Talk of waste but very little criticism if any at all about Lloyd or Biden’s Autopen. TMZ is the one mentioned in tweet below as ignoring one year while pushing the other, but it’s not just them.
When news organizations do this they help push possible common ground spending issues to review into being political and therefore one side versus the other.
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/01/28/waste_of_the_day_pentagon_posts_most_expensive_month_since_2008_1087219.html
When news organizations do this they help push possible common ground spending issues to review into being political and therefore one side versus the other.
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/01/28/waste_of_the_day_pentagon_posts_most_expensive_month_since_2008_1087219.html
quote:
Waste of the Day: Pentagon Posts Most Expensive Month Since 2008
Topline: The Department of Defense purchased lobster tails, footrests and more during a September 2024 spending spree that saw $79.1 billion spent on grants and contracts.
It was the Pentagon’s most expensive month of outside purchases since September 2008, when George W. Bush was about to leave office.
Key facts: In the last five working days of September, the DOD spent $11.7 billion on grants and contracts. There are only 11 other countries that spend that much on defense in an entire year.
Some of the huge bill went towards food orders fit for a king. The military spent $103.7 million on meat, fish and poultry, including $16.6 million on ribeye steak and 147 orders of lobster tail for $6.1 million.
Orders of blueberries, ice cream and doughnuts also exceeded $100,000.
And of course, the military needs the latest technology. In September that included 130 iPhone 16 Pro Max devices, part of $5.1 million spent on Apple products.
Another $211.7 million went toward new furniture, and $24.4 million was spent on books and newspapers.
There were also orders for car footrests totaling $36,000.
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. 
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:33 pm to Eurocat
quote:
ncluding one chair that cost $1,844
probably a steelcase one
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:35 pm to The Pirate King
quote:That’s exactly why wasting money just to burn through a budget before the fiscal year ends is bad policy. If serious costs may be coming, discipline with the money you already have matters even more.
It seems you're incapable of understanding basic context and the big picture.
They will most assuredly hit the budget cap this year with what's going on in Iran. Good thing they didn't shrink the budget to save a few pennies to appease people who think like you.
It’s kind of mind-blowing watching you guys pretzel yourselves into defending “use it or lose it” spending and $99k pianos. At this point you’re just an empty vessel reflexively defending anything 'maga' does.
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:42 pm to DonJuanDaMiles
quote:
And that it’s ok they wasted was only $26.5 roughly on high end food, over $225 million on high end luxury furniture, and almost $2 million on musical instruments for high ranking officials, and it’s ok because they spent/wasted $9.6 billion?
I don’t think the report in OP shows that all of the September spending was wasted. It doesn’t really 100% prove any of it was, but it does bring up some spending that definitely should require a more thorough review that includes total spending for the year, how September fits into total, what was authorized or budgeted for the year, specifically who the money was spent on, what kind of pricing was paid for what was received, and so on. Total Year to Year comparisons for these kinds of expenses should also be included.
Another point of review should be reviewing the success rate of these end of year spikes versus decisions made throughout the year. Are the purchases planned out well and in advance, and the department was just waiting for any authorized funding increments and/or the contracted vendor or winning bid to be ready to sign? Or are they rushed and therefore likely wasted to various degrees because they weren’t well thought out and planned decisions regardless of the amounts spent?
Posted on 3/11/26 at 2:57 pm to touchdownjeebus
quote:That kind of proves the point, doesn’t it? If agencies have to go on predictable end-of-year buying sprees just to burn through leftover funds so their budgets don’t get cut, doesn’t that suggest the budgets are chronically larger than they actually need to be in the first place?
It’s the end of the fiscal year dump. You’ll see the same thing across the board, in multiple agencies. Use it or lose it.
If the money were truly tight, they wouldn’t be scrambling in September looking for things to buy just to justify the number next year.
Posted on 3/11/26 at 4:38 pm to northshorebamaman
Posted on 3/11/26 at 4:40 pm to OweO
quote:
So if the budget didn't have 10s of millions of dollars that needed to be spent by the end of the year then there is no Alaskan King Crabs of $15 million worth of ribeye's. So the military only deserves a good meal if there is extra money in the budget? If it matters that much it should be in the budget... right?
Well they don't get end of the year bonuses for hitting KPI's maybe this is leadership's way of treating the troops to a nice meal for a job well done.
But again why do we automatically assume it was wasteful spending because the author of a gotcha article says so?
Notice he only says how much they spent but didn't investigate any further. He doesn't say how much was spent in August or any other month nor does he indicate where the ribeyes went, what quantities were purchased etc.
It reads as if he went through a publicly available accounting report found line items that he could use to create the narrative that he wanted to portray and we are falling for it hook, line, and sinker.
For the record, I'm not saying there wasn't wasteful spending. It raises good questions but doesn't provide any real answers.
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