• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

DOGE is sending 'shockwaves' through the Pentagon, ex-DOD insider says

A former DoD insider speaks to Fox News, yawn.

This the same network that paid out 750 million for spewing misinformation post 2020 election.

Why would anyone use Fox as a citation lol
 
stealthycat said:
how have we lost anything so far ?
Click to expand...

random firings of government employees without doing actual analysis of cost/benefit
tariffs
ticking off allies, especially canada (tourism industry is being impacted by canadians cancelling vacations in the us for example)
 
anatta said:
Im putting this here for all those who claim DOGE has given no accounting/examples of wasteful spending
Click to expand...


Another unsubstantiated claim from some defense contractor CEO is not an accounting of, well, anything.


...suggested waste identified by DOGE could be reallocated to modernize military technology and prepare for the battlefield of the future, particularly homing in on developments capable of taking out drones...



And let me take a wild guess - Allen Control Systems just so happens to build and sell products that would help to "modernize military technology and prepare for the battlefield of the future, especially counter-drone measures. Right?
 
Also, Simoni's "insider" background is later described as "Simoni, a former Navy nuclear engineer..." in that article.

I'm a former Army paratrooper, and current IT consultant working with a lot of DOD customers - does that make me a DOD insider, too?
 
coyote505 said:
The land of $400 hammers could definintely use some review. This is what DOG-e should be doing instead of categorically firing broad swathes of govt. workers. One way to start would be to determine what new jobs were created under Obama and Biden and closely scrutinize Those, as to their actual necessity to the function of government.
Click to expand...
Not saying that there isn't a bunch of fat that can be cut from the military budget... but the $400 hammer thing is a myth.

The myth of the $600 hammer

The myth of the $600 hammer
www.govexec.com www.govexec.com

The TL;DR is that the hammers were bought in a bundle with a bunch of other spare parts. They cost $15... but the R&D costs got applied to every item. So to the accounting a Hammer was treated exactly the same as highly technical items like engine parts.

It was an accounting artifact.
 
anatta said:
because procurement is always efficient and never over specked?? lol
Click to expand...
Trump made the DOJ spend 5 million per cell phone.
 
Questerr said:
Yeah, I definitely would rather have my military communications built around commercially available cheap cables that are no in any way protected from tapping and that will break the first time even a tiny piece of shrapnel touches them than purpose built cables designed for battlefield conditions and with protections against eavesdropping built in.

It’s like the people who used to bitch about the cost of ashtrays in the military not realizing they were designed so if they broke, they would turn into blunt lumps instead of shattering into lethal slivers. You know not something that would ever happen in the military right? They don’t deal with explosions all the time or anything.
Click to expand...
Point taken, but stop exaggerating 20$ to 30$ versus 10,000$ apiece is ridiculous by any sane person's standard. I'm sure there is a perfectly fine alternatie that doesn't cost $10,000. Ashtrays? Really, another alternative costing less than $50 would be rubber/plastic that would work fine and not cost $50, it's about military contractors overcharging. It's a reality and it needs to be stopped.
I can go to WalMart and buy a fishing rod, complete with everything for 20-25 dollars including lures, line and a little tackle box. It will catch fish. I can go to Bass Pro and spend several hundred on just the rod, not reel, no line, no $20 - $40 lures, no tackle box. It's the same with everything. My son in law is an avid fisherman, his $180 rod, rod only price and add on over a $100 for the reel, snapped, oops, my $40 walmart rod and reel didn't, it's still hanging in my garage waiting on it's next fishing trip. Right next to my $130 rod and reel I bought on sale at the sport shop while trout fishing a few years ago.
It's all about what you want to spend, are willing to spend and willing to shop for a better price. The government, outside of Trump, is used to paying anything vender tells them. Usually their buddies.
 
Questerr said:
Common sense would say that the Army doesn’t need to spend $20,000 per radio.

Common sense is wrong because your average person has no ****ing clue how expensive producing a radio built for battlefield conditions is.
Click to expand...
Trump in term one got billions cut off Boeing contract for fighters and AF1. Strangely in 2022, Boeing claimed it lost several billion on that contract, (under the Biden administration). I'm sure they mismanaged their entire business judging from the last decade of Boeing issues. Boeing is 5 years behind on delivery of the new AF1's.
When you are used to just sending an inflated price, followed by inflated adjustments to costs as you go along, you just keep sending the bills to the DOD. They pay them. That shit needs to stop.
My mechanic, who I've used for nearly 2 decades, calls me and gives me an estimate on any repairs he does, occasionally it will run a bit over, maybe 5%. However is just as often runs slightly less. Usually it's over the prices of parts.
Why do I doubt Boeing ever sends a note saying, we got it done for less, here's you money back.
Oh, and I own Boeing stock.
 
Integrityrespec said:
Trump in term one got billions cut off Boeing contract for fighters and AF1. Strangely in 2022, Boeing claimed it lost several billion on that contract, (under the Biden administration). I'm sure they mismanaged their entire business judging from the last decade of Boeing issues. Boeing is 5 years behind on delivery of the new AF1's.
Click to expand...
Turns out if you don't hold up your end of the contract, neither will the other party.
 
I hope that the next administration, whenever that happens, treats this like the attack on our national security that it is.
 
Jezcoe said:
Not saying that there isn't a bunch of fat that can be cut from the military budget... but the $400 hammer thing is a myth.

The myth of the $600 hammer

The myth of the $600 hammer
www.govexec.com www.govexec.com

The TL;DR is that the hammers were bought in a bundle with a bunch of other spare parts. They cost $15... but the R&D costs got applied to every item. So to the accounting a Hammer was treated exactly the same as highly technical items like engine parts.

It was an accounting artifact.
Click to expand...
Very informative link. Thank you!
 
Integrityrespec said:
Trump in term one got billions cut off Boeing contract for fighters and AF1. Strangely in 2022, Boeing claimed it lost several billion on that contract, (under the Biden administration). I'm sure they mismanaged their entire business judging from the last decade of Boeing issues. Boeing is 5 years behind on delivery of the new AF1's.
When you are used to just sending an inflated price, followed by inflated adjustments to costs as you go along, you just keep sending the bills to the DOD. They pay them. That shit needs to stop.
My mechanic, who I've used for nearly 2 decades, calls me and gives me an estimate on any repairs he does, occasionally it will run a bit over, maybe 5%. However is just as often runs slightly less. Usually it's over the prices of parts.
Why do I doubt Boeing ever sends a note saying, we got it done for less, here's you money back.
Oh, and I own Boeing stock.
Click to expand...

It definitely has nothing to do with the current corporate culture that favors stock buybacks for shareholders and maximized short term profits over all other concerns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom