Proof positive that the Pentagon, despite a noble mission, is just another bloated, inefficient, bureaucratic entity: hundreds of contractors who have committed fraud against the Department of Defense are still getting contracts! From the AP:
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of defense companies that defrauded the U.S. military between 2007 and 2009 still received $285 billion in contracts from the Pentagon during the same period, a U.S. senator said Wednesday.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the figures “shocking” and urged the Defense Department to take more aggressive steps to ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted at a time when the U.S. is running a $14 trillion national debt.
Citing a January report prepared by Pentagon acquisition officials at Sanders’ request, the senator said the bulk of the contracts — just over $280 billion — went to 211 companies that had civil judgments against them or settled fraud charges of more than $1 million.