from rense.com
$5 Trillion To Bail Out Fannie And Freddie
From Cliff Mickelson 7-14-8
HEY BUDDY!....GOT AN EXTRA 5 TRILLION?.....
....Because that's what it's going to take to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...
But, not to worry! Our fearless leaders can simply order the Treasury Dept. to print it up and we can borrow it back with interest from the not-so-Federal Reserve! Makes perfect voodoo-economic sense to me!
My only other issue with the otherwise acerbic NY Times article linked below is it's half-hearted attempt to make excuses for the actions of the Federal Reserve under the tenure of Lord Greenspan.
Despite what we are told ad-nauseam by the press...The actions of the Fed under the Marionette hand of "Sir" Greenspan were NOT erroneous. Greenspan (and the shadowy clique of International Banksters who pulled his strings) knew EXACTLY what they were doing. (And...This aint the first time, Virginia)
What we see happening now is just part of the same old plan. You will notice that the Fed is now rushing forward to be an integral part of the "solution"! How selfless and considerate of them! Are we grateful yet?
Of course we are!...The gullible American Sheeple will bleat thankfully as they follow their Judas-Goat leadership all the way to the Bankster's final solution.
Perhaps, from a historical point of view.. its all for the best. Somebody needs to end this charade and finally put Lassie out of her misery! It's painful to watch the betrayed trust of the doe-eyed old girl continue to limp on so faithfully.
-Cliff Mickelson
From Loadworkout.org
Angry Consumers Flood Federal Reserve Board with Complaints
By Moe Bedard on July 2nd, 2008
The message is out to struggling consumers and the Federal Reserve may be sorry they offered a helping hand to the millions of consumers who are drowning in credit card debt and in their homes.
Apparently the Federal Reserve has been inundated with over 8,200 consumer complaints against various banking and lending institutions for credit card abuse and predatory lending. The Fed’s inbox has been full since it invited personal comments regarding a proposed new rule to end “Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices.” Sarah Byrnes said, Campaign Manager of Americans for Fairness in Lending (AFFIL)
Here are some of the complaints from Federal Reserves Freedom of Imformation Office:
“I get a form letter from Bank of America that says my interest rate is going to be raised from 7.9% to 21.99%. Why? Because I have a large balance that I haven’t paid off and I carry balances on a few other cards. Never mind that I’m not late, overlimit or anything else that would be a problem.” — Angela, Louisville, Kentucky
“The worst is Bank of America….The worst experience with this card was when I received my statement the other day. There was a $39 late fee on it. I knew that I paid on time and when I called the rep stated that I ‘paid too early’ so that it was applied to my previous billing cycle. Therefore, it was if I hadn’t made any payment in [the] current billing cycle. I have never heard of such a thing, being penalized for paying too soon.” — Eileen, Farmingdale, New York
“My husband and I recently experienced Bank of America raising our interest rate on our credit card from 13% to over 24%. The reason they sited [sic] was because they ‘re-evaluated’ our credit history…. Thankfully we continue to pay all our bills on time but these actions are predatory as I feel like they are in a dark corner just waiting to pounce.” — Jennifer, Fort Meyers, Florida
“Back when the President signed the new bankruptcy law, all my credit cards doubled the minimum payment and at least doubled my interest rates. What was a $100 minimum payment with a 9.99% interest rate went to $200 a month at 28%. I had to open more cards to transfer balances to help pay the other cards. Now I have to file for bankruptcy.” — Tim, Troy, Ohio
From the AAFIL:
“Americans are telling the Federal Reserve Board in no uncertain terms that they have had enough of these tricks and traps. Consumers are demanding strong federal regulations to ban the most egregious credit card practices—doubling and tripling interest rates, applying these higher interest rates retroactively to outstanding balances, imposing exorbitant penalty fees, and requiring binding mandatory arbitration clauses. But many wonder whether the Fed will listen to banks more than consumers and come down on the side of ‘business as usual.’ There’s no doubt that the banks are pressuring the Fed to tone down the proposed changes.
“Our government protects us from unsafe foods and drugs. Shouldn’t we demand reasonable protection against dangerous lending practices that deplete and destroy assets? We believe that consumer voices are what’s missing in the dialogue between banks and the Federal Reserve Board. That’s why AFFIL is helping consumers to contact the Fed during this period through its website http://www.affil.org. The Fed’s invitation for comments remains open through August 4, 2008.”
More information from the Federal Reserve:
Regulation AA - Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices [R-1314 ]
Interagency proposed rule prohibiting institutions from engaging in certain acts or practices in connection with consumer credit card accounts and overdraft services for deposit accounts
Angry Consumers Flood Federal Reserve Board with Complaints
By Moe Bedard on July 2nd, 2008
The message is out to struggling consumers and the Federal Reserve may be sorry they offered a helping hand to the millions of consumers who are drowning in credit card debt and in their homes.
Apparently the Federal Reserve has been inundated with over 8,200 consumer complaints against various banking and lending institutions for credit card abuse and predatory lending. The Fed’s inbox has been full since it invited personal comments regarding a proposed new rule to end “Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices.” Sarah Byrnes said, Campaign Manager of Americans for Fairness in Lending (AFFIL)
Here are some of the complaints from Federal Reserves Freedom of Imformation Office:
“I get a form letter from Bank of America that says my interest rate is going to be raised from 7.9% to 21.99%. Why? Because I have a large balance that I haven’t paid off and I carry balances on a few other cards. Never mind that I’m not late, overlimit or anything else that would be a problem.” — Angela, Louisville, Kentucky
“The worst is Bank of America….The worst experience with this card was when I received my statement the other day. There was a $39 late fee on it. I knew that I paid on time and when I called the rep stated that I ‘paid too early’ so that it was applied to my previous billing cycle. Therefore, it was if I hadn’t made any payment in [the] current billing cycle. I have never heard of such a thing, being penalized for paying too soon.” — Eileen, Farmingdale, New York
“My husband and I recently experienced Bank of America raising our interest rate on our credit card from 13% to over 24%. The reason they sited [sic] was because they ‘re-evaluated’ our credit history…. Thankfully we continue to pay all our bills on time but these actions are predatory as I feel like they are in a dark corner just waiting to pounce.” — Jennifer, Fort Meyers, Florida
“Back when the President signed the new bankruptcy law, all my credit cards doubled the minimum payment and at least doubled my interest rates. What was a $100 minimum payment with a 9.99% interest rate went to $200 a month at 28%. I had to open more cards to transfer balances to help pay the other cards. Now I have to file for bankruptcy.” — Tim, Troy, Ohio
From the AAFIL:
“Americans are telling the Federal Reserve Board in no uncertain terms that they have had enough of these tricks and traps. Consumers are demanding strong federal regulations to ban the most egregious credit card practices—doubling and tripling interest rates, applying these higher interest rates retroactively to outstanding balances, imposing exorbitant penalty fees, and requiring binding mandatory arbitration clauses. But many wonder whether the Fed will listen to banks more than consumers and come down on the side of ‘business as usual.’ There’s no doubt that the banks are pressuring the Fed to tone down the proposed changes.
“Our government protects us from unsafe foods and drugs. Shouldn’t we demand reasonable protection against dangerous lending practices that deplete and destroy assets? We believe that consumer voices are what’s missing in the dialogue between banks and the Federal Reserve Board. That’s why AFFIL is helping consumers to contact the Fed during this period through its website http://www.affil.org. The Fed’s invitation for comments remains open through August 4, 2008.”
More information from the Federal Reserve:
Regulation AA - Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices [R-1314 ]
Interagency proposed rule prohibiting institutions from engaging in certain acts or practices in connection with consumer credit card accounts and overdraft services for deposit accounts
From Rumor Mill News
"SUCKERNOMICS"
By Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. April 24, 2006
1, Don't teach students basic reading and math skills, so they will not be able to compete economically against those of other nations.
2, Convince Americans that more money is needed to solve our educational problems, even though a tremendous increase in educational funding has occurred over the past 4 decades, with negative results.
3, Teach children that petroleum products come from decayed fossils, even though there is no evidence of massive numbers of dinosaurs or massive amounts of vegetation in Middle Eastern desert regions or in the North Sea or near Alaska where large deposits of oil have been found. Don't let them know petroleum products are plentiful and come from methane derivatives, available through deep-drilling techniques used by the Russians for decades. Otherwise, they won't believe there's an oil shortage, and pay continuously rising prices.
4, Require Americans to pay about 40% of their annual income in taxes, but tell them that they are still better off than the serfs of feudal days who paid a smaller percent of their production to the nobles.
5, Persuade Americans that they should pay taxes for government programs which operate less efficiently than if run by private enterprise.
6, Entice Americans to purchase items on credit, even though that increases the cost of the goods by 10-20%.
7, Have Americans place a large percent of their paycheck into a Social Security "Trust Fund," which Congress then raids, leaving future senior citizens wondering what happened to their hard-earned money for retirement.
8, Allow the federal government to get away with posting an inflation rate that does not include increases in the price of food and fuel. This also allows the federal government to pay senior citizens less in Social Security benefits each year, because cost-of-living increases are not based upon an accurate inflation rate.
9, Give authority regarding trade decisions to the World Trade Organization, run by unelected bureaucrats overseas who can tell Congress it has to change our laws. Convince Americans that this is "free trade" when it is actually "managed trade," because many nations still have trade restrictions and subsidize industries in their own countries.
10, Dismiss calls for "fair trade," claiming American workers can compete against slave and child labor.
11, Persuade Americans there are still such things as "American corporations" as ownership increasingly goes overseas (e.g., 97% of sound recording industries, 65% of metal ore mining, 64% of motion picture and video industries, 63% of book publishers, etc.).
12, Have Americans believe that profits from American companies still stay in the U.S. (e.g., Amoco's profits go to England, Random House's and Chrysler's profits go to Germany, Gerber's profits go to Switzerland, TransAmerica's profits go to The Netherlands, etc.).
13, Convince Americans that government incentives for American companies to locate offices/jobs overseas will not harm the job prospects of American workers (even comedian Jay Leno said President Bush went to India to visit the American jobs that had relocated there).
14, Persuade Americans that NAFTA and GATT would bring high-paying high-tech jobs to the U.S., while increasing numbers of high-tech jobs are outsourced to India, etc., and while President Bush and Congress propose dramatically increasing (from 65,000 to 350,00 annually) the number of H-1B visas so that high-tech foreign workers can come to the U.S.
15, Convince Americans that increasing numbers of guest workers working for minimum wage (because they are placed, for example, 10 in a house and pay only 1/10th each for expenses) will not undercut American workers in many industries (e.g., fast foods, construction, hotel and motel, grass-cutting, carpet-cleaning, etc.) who have to pay 100% of their own expenses.
16, Persuade Americans increasingly to purchase cheap foreign-made products here, leaving them to wonder why they cannot find a good-paying American job anymore.
17, Convince Americans that they have still gotten their monies' worth purchasing cheap products from overseas even though they don't last as long as American-made products.
18, Have government severely regulate/limit the use of people's private property, but still require them to pay the full amount of taxes on their property.
19, Force/coerce people to turn over their private property to the government in the name of preserving a pristine environment, but then this same property is contracted out to developers/mining companies, etc., for exploitation.
20, Drastically reduce the United States manufacturing base, yet assure Americans that having missile parts, etc., made in Communist China or elsewhere will not compromise our national security at any time, especially during wartime.
21, Persuade Americans that building up the economy of Communist China via investment and trade will not strengthen their military with which they can threaten/attack us. Also convince Americans that giving the Communist Chinese advanced missile technology will not aid them militarily either, if they decide to attack the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, or some other nation in the future.
22, Assure Americans that genetically modified foods and animals are economically beneficial, even though the long-term health consequences of such genetic modification is unknown. In an experiment, half of a field was planted with unmodified soybeans and the other half of the field with genetically modified soybeans----geese refused to eat the genetically modified soybeans! Do they know something we don't know?
23, Spend millions of American tax dollars to build the Panama Canal and then hand it over to a Panamanian dictator who sells operation rights at either end of the canal to the Communist Chinese who could destroy it if in a war with the U.S. in the future.
24, Have millions of American tax dollars spent on political campaigns to oust Slobodan Milosevic as leader of Yugoslavia at the same time Americans are expressing outrage over Communist Chinese political campaign contributions to American candidates.
25, Spend millions of American tax dollars on textbooks teaching Afghan children jihad (holy war) against foreign invaders, causing the Afghans when grown to fight against the U.S. invasion.
26, Americans give millions of dollars in foreign aid to countries that give large amounts of money to terrorists who want to destroy us (this is the "sell them the rope with which they'll hang us" principle).
27, Convince Americans that the unemployment rate is going down, when this figure does not include those who have stopped looking for work. Also, hide the fact that many who have been laid off jobs and found new employment are now working in the service industries which pay less than their former jobs. Thus, while they are counted as "employed," they have less purchasing power.
28, Condition the American people to abandon moral principles in order to benefit economically. For example, the reason Americans can buy cheap Chinese products in the U.S. is because the Communist Chinese dictatorship can force laborers to work cheaply or go to prison where they sometimes are raped. Therefore, Americans have accepted the immoral attitude that it's allowable for women and men to be threatened with imprisonment (where they may be raped) if that's what it takes to buy cheap shirts, shoes, etc., in the U.S.
29, Have the American people accept the U.S. going from having the greatest economy in the world to being the greatest debtor nation. Former President Clinton recently said the only way we can pay for the Katrina disaster is the extent to which China is willing to continue to buy our debt. This makes us subject to international blackmail.
30, Condition the American people passively to accept Congressional provisions for offshore tax shelters for their corporate friends, at the same time the U.S. faces serious problems concerning the national debt, budget deficits, trade imbalances, the dollar's loss in value, many personal bankruptcies, and a high tax rate for the rest of us.
"SUCKERNOMICS"
By Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. April 24, 2006
1, Don't teach students basic reading and math skills, so they will not be able to compete economically against those of other nations.
2, Convince Americans that more money is needed to solve our educational problems, even though a tremendous increase in educational funding has occurred over the past 4 decades, with negative results.
3, Teach children that petroleum products come from decayed fossils, even though there is no evidence of massive numbers of dinosaurs or massive amounts of vegetation in Middle Eastern desert regions or in the North Sea or near Alaska where large deposits of oil have been found. Don't let them know petroleum products are plentiful and come from methane derivatives, available through deep-drilling techniques used by the Russians for decades. Otherwise, they won't believe there's an oil shortage, and pay continuously rising prices.
4, Require Americans to pay about 40% of their annual income in taxes, but tell them that they are still better off than the serfs of feudal days who paid a smaller percent of their production to the nobles.
5, Persuade Americans that they should pay taxes for government programs which operate less efficiently than if run by private enterprise.
6, Entice Americans to purchase items on credit, even though that increases the cost of the goods by 10-20%.
7, Have Americans place a large percent of their paycheck into a Social Security "Trust Fund," which Congress then raids, leaving future senior citizens wondering what happened to their hard-earned money for retirement.
8, Allow the federal government to get away with posting an inflation rate that does not include increases in the price of food and fuel. This also allows the federal government to pay senior citizens less in Social Security benefits each year, because cost-of-living increases are not based upon an accurate inflation rate.
9, Give authority regarding trade decisions to the World Trade Organization, run by unelected bureaucrats overseas who can tell Congress it has to change our laws. Convince Americans that this is "free trade" when it is actually "managed trade," because many nations still have trade restrictions and subsidize industries in their own countries.
10, Dismiss calls for "fair trade," claiming American workers can compete against slave and child labor.
11, Persuade Americans there are still such things as "American corporations" as ownership increasingly goes overseas (e.g., 97% of sound recording industries, 65% of metal ore mining, 64% of motion picture and video industries, 63% of book publishers, etc.).
12, Have Americans believe that profits from American companies still stay in the U.S. (e.g., Amoco's profits go to England, Random House's and Chrysler's profits go to Germany, Gerber's profits go to Switzerland, TransAmerica's profits go to The Netherlands, etc.).
13, Convince Americans that government incentives for American companies to locate offices/jobs overseas will not harm the job prospects of American workers (even comedian Jay Leno said President Bush went to India to visit the American jobs that had relocated there).
14, Persuade Americans that NAFTA and GATT would bring high-paying high-tech jobs to the U.S., while increasing numbers of high-tech jobs are outsourced to India, etc., and while President Bush and Congress propose dramatically increasing (from 65,000 to 350,00 annually) the number of H-1B visas so that high-tech foreign workers can come to the U.S.
15, Convince Americans that increasing numbers of guest workers working for minimum wage (because they are placed, for example, 10 in a house and pay only 1/10th each for expenses) will not undercut American workers in many industries (e.g., fast foods, construction, hotel and motel, grass-cutting, carpet-cleaning, etc.) who have to pay 100% of their own expenses.
16, Persuade Americans increasingly to purchase cheap foreign-made products here, leaving them to wonder why they cannot find a good-paying American job anymore.
17, Convince Americans that they have still gotten their monies' worth purchasing cheap products from overseas even though they don't last as long as American-made products.
18, Have government severely regulate/limit the use of people's private property, but still require them to pay the full amount of taxes on their property.
19, Force/coerce people to turn over their private property to the government in the name of preserving a pristine environment, but then this same property is contracted out to developers/mining companies, etc., for exploitation.
20, Drastically reduce the United States manufacturing base, yet assure Americans that having missile parts, etc., made in Communist China or elsewhere will not compromise our national security at any time, especially during wartime.
21, Persuade Americans that building up the economy of Communist China via investment and trade will not strengthen their military with which they can threaten/attack us. Also convince Americans that giving the Communist Chinese advanced missile technology will not aid them militarily either, if they decide to attack the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, or some other nation in the future.
22, Assure Americans that genetically modified foods and animals are economically beneficial, even though the long-term health consequences of such genetic modification is unknown. In an experiment, half of a field was planted with unmodified soybeans and the other half of the field with genetically modified soybeans----geese refused to eat the genetically modified soybeans! Do they know something we don't know?
23, Spend millions of American tax dollars to build the Panama Canal and then hand it over to a Panamanian dictator who sells operation rights at either end of the canal to the Communist Chinese who could destroy it if in a war with the U.S. in the future.
24, Have millions of American tax dollars spent on political campaigns to oust Slobodan Milosevic as leader of Yugoslavia at the same time Americans are expressing outrage over Communist Chinese political campaign contributions to American candidates.
25, Spend millions of American tax dollars on textbooks teaching Afghan children jihad (holy war) against foreign invaders, causing the Afghans when grown to fight against the U.S. invasion.
26, Americans give millions of dollars in foreign aid to countries that give large amounts of money to terrorists who want to destroy us (this is the "sell them the rope with which they'll hang us" principle).
27, Convince Americans that the unemployment rate is going down, when this figure does not include those who have stopped looking for work. Also, hide the fact that many who have been laid off jobs and found new employment are now working in the service industries which pay less than their former jobs. Thus, while they are counted as "employed," they have less purchasing power.
28, Condition the American people to abandon moral principles in order to benefit economically. For example, the reason Americans can buy cheap Chinese products in the U.S. is because the Communist Chinese dictatorship can force laborers to work cheaply or go to prison where they sometimes are raped. Therefore, Americans have accepted the immoral attitude that it's allowable for women and men to be threatened with imprisonment (where they may be raped) if that's what it takes to buy cheap shirts, shoes, etc., in the U.S.
29, Have the American people accept the U.S. going from having the greatest economy in the world to being the greatest debtor nation. Former President Clinton recently said the only way we can pay for the Katrina disaster is the extent to which China is willing to continue to buy our debt. This makes us subject to international blackmail.
30, Condition the American people passively to accept Congressional provisions for offshore tax shelters for their corporate friends, at the same time the U.S. faces serious problems concerning the national debt, budget deficits, trade imbalances, the dollar's loss in value, many personal bankruptcies, and a high tax rate for the rest of us.
From Financial Oracle
Washington, DC - Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America 's small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.
FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented: "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America , such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America 's small businesses are breathtaking."
What is Senator Dodd up to? The concept of this bill is to create a repository of all financial transactions. For whom? Let's hope this legislation doesn't pass.
Washington, DC - Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America 's small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.
FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented: "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America , such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America 's small businesses are breathtaking."
What is Senator Dodd up to? The concept of this bill is to create a repository of all financial transactions. For whom? Let's hope this legislation doesn't pass.
From Unknown News
The greatest screwjob ever
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News June 15, 2008
It happens in publicly traded corporations all the time, Enron being the most notorious example -- management goes rogue, cooks the books, and makes off with a fortune before anyone gets wise leading to bankruptcy, investor losses and job losses.
That is exactly what happened to USA Inc. Our treasury has been looted, taken to offshore banks with secret accounts, and we have been left with a mind-numbing debt that our great, great grandchildren will still be paying off.
That's the unnerving, crazymaking thing. In spite of the fact that we know the Bush/Cheney gang is looting the country to the last dime on the last credit card and rapidly going after every dollar of our money, which should be being spent on pressing needs like education, health and caring for our growing crowd of wounded vets, we can't get anything done about it! read
The greatest screwjob ever
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News June 15, 2008
It happens in publicly traded corporations all the time, Enron being the most notorious example -- management goes rogue, cooks the books, and makes off with a fortune before anyone gets wise leading to bankruptcy, investor losses and job losses.
That is exactly what happened to USA Inc. Our treasury has been looted, taken to offshore banks with secret accounts, and we have been left with a mind-numbing debt that our great, great grandchildren will still be paying off.
That's the unnerving, crazymaking thing. In spite of the fact that we know the Bush/Cheney gang is looting the country to the last dime on the last credit card and rapidly going after every dollar of our money, which should be being spent on pressing needs like education, health and caring for our growing crowd of wounded vets, we can't get anything done about it! read
Spending On Iraq Poorly Tracked
Pentagon Audit Cannot Find $15 Billion
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 23, 2008; D01
The inspector general for the Defense Department said yesterday that the Pentagon cannot account for almost $15 billion worth of goods and services ranging from trucks, bottled water and mattresses to rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns that were bought from contractors in the Iraq reconstruction effort.
The Pentagon did not have the proper documentation, including receipts, vouchers, signatures, invoices or other paperwork, for $7.8 billion that American and Iraqi contractors were paid for phones, folders, paint, blankets, Nissan trucks, laundry services and other items, according to a 69-page audit released to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
An earlier audit by the inspector general found deficiencies in accounting for $5.2 billion of U.S. payments to buy weapons, trucks, generators and other equipment for Iraq's security forces. In addition, the Defense Department spent $1.8 billion of seized Iraqi assets with "absolutely no accountability," according to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who chairs the oversight committee. The Pentagon also kept poor records on $135 million that it paid to its partners in the multinational military force in Iraq, auditors said.
The Army disagreed with some of the auditors' findings, saying that it is difficult to maintain an adequate paper trail in a war zone and that it has improved its record-keeping and accountability efforts. Robert L. Wilkie, assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, declined an invitation to testify before from Waxman's committee. read
Pentagon Audit Cannot Find $15 Billion
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 23, 2008; D01
The inspector general for the Defense Department said yesterday that the Pentagon cannot account for almost $15 billion worth of goods and services ranging from trucks, bottled water and mattresses to rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns that were bought from contractors in the Iraq reconstruction effort.
The Pentagon did not have the proper documentation, including receipts, vouchers, signatures, invoices or other paperwork, for $7.8 billion that American and Iraqi contractors were paid for phones, folders, paint, blankets, Nissan trucks, laundry services and other items, according to a 69-page audit released to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
An earlier audit by the inspector general found deficiencies in accounting for $5.2 billion of U.S. payments to buy weapons, trucks, generators and other equipment for Iraq's security forces. In addition, the Defense Department spent $1.8 billion of seized Iraqi assets with "absolutely no accountability," according to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who chairs the oversight committee. The Pentagon also kept poor records on $135 million that it paid to its partners in the multinational military force in Iraq, auditors said.
The Army disagreed with some of the auditors' findings, saying that it is difficult to maintain an adequate paper trail in a war zone and that it has improved its record-keeping and accountability efforts. Robert L. Wilkie, assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, declined an invitation to testify before from Waxman's committee. read
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