Investigation into a $1 billion fund allotted by Congress to the Pentagon in March to bolster the country’s supplies of medical equipment reveals that the funds have been mostly diverted to defense contractors and used to manufacture military equipment like jet engine parts, body armor and dress uniforms.
Isn’t the military’s role to protect Americans?
Gosh, apparently the 40-50% of our budget that the Military receives isn’t enough. We may have to give them 100% and let them distribute the money they don’t “need” to various agencies like Education and Medical as they see fit.
Pentagon gets money meant to help fight the virus yet choose to spend it on military parts. In the meantime, the American people can’t even get a fucking stimulus check because -checks notes- there’s no money. Well I guess there wouldn’t be since the Pentagon has looted the funds. And Congress is mysteriously quiet.
We are so screwed.
No no no, that notion is so passe, the purpose of our military is to provide jobs and profits (mostly profits) to military contractors and manufactures like Raytheon, Boeing, etc.
It is the military’s role to protect Americans, but they can’t do that job if they’re sick.
As of this morning, this writing, Worldometers shows that the US Military (not VA, that’s a separate data point) shows over 62,000 members of the military have been infected by this virus. Over 3,000 have died from it.
All that training and all that service is GONE. No longer available. The compromising impact of this decision to spend money for other intentions contributed to this state.
Wow. I guess Trump was right. The Pentagon is only concerned about supporting the military industrial complex. Who knew? In a pandemic you would certainly want your soldiers in their dress uniforms and not PPE!
Apparently Mark Esperanto didn’t get that memo.
One explicit straightforward objective - replenish & increase the stockpile of PPE.
…AND … evidence was unquestionably in hand - formally documented - that the need was imperative…
Nonetheless, intentions, directions, requirements were profoundly disregarded, disobeyed and what was specifically meant to be done with these funds was ignored and willfully corrupted … in a way that damaged the nation and killed people .
This is as if there was a large fire in a city … and the city council made an emergency appropriation for 100 fire tanker trucks with water to rush to the fire… and the fire chief said “ah … screw that” and he instead sent the fire tanker trucks to his country club to fill the swimming pools and water the golf course!
You get this kind of stuff whenever you bring people and other people’s money together, but sloppy, irresponsible, and corrupt practices are now as wide as you can see and deeper than can imagine. Nice job, Republicans. You put a small-time chiseling crook in the White House, with results that could have been expected.
This has happened time and again - funds diverted to unauthorized uses. But no one ever seems to be held responsible. The present administration is totally uninterested in holding anyone accountable as long as the outcome benefited a friend or ally. Naked corruption in action.
CDC director Robert Redfield, testified to the Senate last week that states desperately need $6 billion to distribute vaccines to Americans early next year.
I think any person working for the CDC testifying to anything should be assumed a liar, either by their own choosing or due to orders from on high.
We are in a pandemic …
Trump likes to call it a “war”
If somebody disregards directives in a war … misappropriates funds … and in so doing … endangers lives … aren’t there serious consequences?
In 2020?
No.
That is all.
O/T bend over folks
And their lobbiests
Expected, protect Big Pharma, who gives a shit about citizens. Business is what is important, or more to the point exec bonus and paychecks are more important.
how reassuring, don’t worry everyone if they make a bad vaccine because we are rushing it they won’t be held liable for your health issues.
DRESS UNIFORMS! Think about that. Instead of masks and gowns and gloves, dress uniforms.
The next Biden ad writes itself.
Redfield hath been tainted.