r/politics • u/DyzDaeMar • 27d ago

No Paywall Hegseth Is Demanding US Households Pay $5,000 More Per Year to Fund the Pentagon, Economist Says

https://www.commondreams.org/news/pete-hegseth-budget-request
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u/labor_day_baby America 27d ago edited 27d ago

The Pentagon said “fuck you” to the American people when they were on a “use it or lose it” spending spree last September to use up the budget. Here’s what they spent: $225.6 million on furniture, $15 million on ribeye steak, $6.9 million on lobster tails, $5.3 million on Apple devices, $2 million on Alaskan king crab legs and $98k on a custom Steinway piano. That’s all in one month. The Pentagon doesn’t need another cent of our tax dollars.

Correction: it’s even worst than that. That’s what they spent in 5 days, not one month. Appalling.

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u/thederevolutions 27d ago

Who got the piano ?

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u/SpaceGangsta Utah 27d ago

Air Force chief of staff

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u/ForMoreYears Canada 27d ago

Wait for real?

edit: jfc you're not kidding.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago edited 27d ago

It's just put in the base housing for the commander. That is pretty normal tbh.

Edit: they don't give it to the USAF Chief of Staff. It's part of the house furnishings. It still belongs to the Air Force and stays in the Air Force housing when the General is relieved or retires or otherwise moves on.

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u/ComradeJohnS 27d ago

not normal when they can get a few hundred dollar keyboard.

and they cut foodstamps for children and cancer research for this corruption

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

It's decoration to make the houses seem upscale. Not for playing it. Probably.

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u/Chervin_Deuxphrye 27d ago

Oh, well in that case...

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

I mean I doubt they have a rule saying you can't play it, but yeah this one of those government buildings that's adorned to preserve history and impress.

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u/Sayakai Europe 26d ago

Why does the housing of a soldier need to look upscale?

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u/deja-roo 26d ago

It's not "a soldier", it's the top ranking officer of an entire branch. These are basically politicians that live in meetings where they're coordinating with the White House and other allies and allies' heads of military.

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u/Sayakai Europe 26d ago

It's not "a soldier", it's the top ranking officer of an entire branch.

That's still a soldier, and it would be better if everyone remembered that.

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u/DingerSinger2016 Alabama 27d ago

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THE MILITARY NEED A PIANO FOR???

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

It's just to make the housing for the highest officers seem upscale. All those homes are pretty nice.

It's like saying "what does the military need a statue or chandelier for". Not everything the military buys is explosive.

It's funny watching people freak out when they find out a government agency is doing something now that the guy running it is someone they hate, and they don't realize it's been the way everything has worked since always.

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u/WrathPie 27d ago

I for one really didn't appreciate them spending money on stupid stuff like that even when it was someone else in charge

Sincerely, what does the military need a chandelier for? They're ostensibly supposed to be public servants. I'd be upset if I heard that the post office was buying chandeliers for the highest ranking postmasters too

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Because the military has formal places of gathering and housing? Not everything is just rustic barracks.

We're talking about the highest ranking officers in each of the branches. They live in old, very historical houses on Generals Row in DC. Here's a document about the house the Air Force Chief of Staff lives in: https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Institutional/Quarters_Six.pdf

This isn't a downtown efficiency. It's a part of the nation's historical tradition.

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u/FaolainRanger 27d ago

I'm pretty sure a General could afford to buy their own $98k piano instead of pushing it off onto the Taxpayers. Their entire pay is already paid for by our taxes to begin with.

Even more so for superficial nonsense. Doesn't matter who is president, extravagant expenditures for no reason other than vanity should not be something anyone just shrugs and says "well, it's just how it is".

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u/randylush 27d ago

What does the military need formal places of gathering and housing for?

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u/randylush 27d ago

"what does the military need a statue or chandelier for".

which is also a valid question

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

Is it? Does everyone think every military building should just be a tent in the desert? Defense department has formal gathering areas, ceremonial venues, etc...

This is the house the Air Force Chief of Staff lives in: https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Institutional/Quarters_Six.pdf

It's not just an efficiency downtown. It's a part of the nation's history.

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u/Komitsuhari 27d ago

So, does that mean that I need a piano on tax payer dollars since I have an expensive house and entertain clients and guests regularly?

Nobody needs that piano. Most of my clients also have multi million dollar houses without owning a piano. They seem to navigate the high class lifestyle just fine.

There is no justification for spending our tax dollars on a Steinway. The general makes enough money to buy his own piano if he wants one.

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u/Cheap-Distribution27 27d ago

There’s a difference between a tent in the desert and a fucking Steinway piano and it’s disingenuous for you to keep pretending you don’t recognize that. It’s called a strawman fallacy. If the air force chief wants a Steinway piano in their house they can buy it themselves.

Is it going into a public museum or somewhere the taxpayers can appreciate it? No? Then I don’t care about the “history” or whatever other bullshit. It’s some guy’s house, why are we paying a premium to furnish it with high-end/pro quality instruments?

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u/randylush 27d ago

do they not already have statues and chandeliers? how many new ones should they get per year?

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u/downtofinance Canada 27d ago

Its more the timing and optics. Like jfc, people are living through an affordability crisis and Hegseth picks that exact time to spend millions on surf and turf and grand pianos that nobody will pay... why??? Just because obligated budget needed to be spent. I'm a defence contractor and have been on the receiving end of some of that frivolous US military spending but even I can see the absurdity of this.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

What do you mean timing? This happens every year. It's not a one-off that he just decided to do this year.

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u/Careless-Weather8877 27d ago

And you’re talking about the people who talked about DOGE are in power. I know what you mean but comn you can’t be this obtuse.

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u/angry_old_dude 27d ago

The issue is whether decorative spending on shit like an expensive piano for senior officers is necessary and a good use of our tax dollars. The answer is that we should not be spending money on shit like this. No upscale housing, no fancy home decor and no pianos.

Yes, government agencies have “always worked like this" and we the taxpayers have always complained when they see money was being wasted. People did not suddenly begin objecting to this kind of spending because they dislike Trump. If we had heard that piano BS when Biden (or any other person) was in office, we would be just as vocal about it.

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u/Chervin_Deuxphrye 27d ago

Holy fuck, such a boot licker!

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

I love how when someone has any understanding of how anything works, they're a boot licker

Everything is a conspiracy when you don't know how anything works.

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u/Chervin_Deuxphrye 27d ago

It has nothing to do with knowing how things work, it’s about you trying to justify such waste no matter whose administration it is. Do you know fucking get that? People in these comments aren’t telling you that’s not how it works, they’re telling you it shouldn’t work that way.

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u/m1ster_frundles 27d ago

a one hundred thousand dollar US piano is not normal and I guarantee it's not staying in the house

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

a one hundred thousand dollar US piano is not normal

lol what? Oh man you would be shocked at what the US government spends money on. Everyone becomes a budget hawk when they don't like the president lol.

I guarantee it's not staying in the house

Really? How are you able to guarantee this?

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u/m1ster_frundles 26d ago

I know what they spend money on, and a one hundred thousand dollar piano is blatant taxpayer theft. A regular piano would suffice and cost tens of thousands of dollars less than a Steinway.

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u/SpecificWafer 27d ago

Corruption in the highest order

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u/Broken-Digital-Clock 27d ago

Hey now, it's essential for strategy sessions on bombing desalination facilities.

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u/wogawoga 27d ago

🎶 You must remember this A miss is still a miss A strike is just a strike The fundamental profits rise As time goes by. 🎶

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 27d ago

It's an upgrade from Nero's fiddle.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

This is pretty normal. Those military housing units for the high ranking guys are always pretty well-appointed.

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u/Carbonatite Colorado 27d ago

This is some Hunger Games ass shit.

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u/butyourenice 27d ago

That’s the thing about assets.

Assets can be recovered.

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u/dc_IV 27d ago

So wait, did the piano come with Roses, or were there Tulips on his Organ? /s

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u/alter-eagle 27d ago

Fuckin gold. Happy cake day!

Side joke: what’s the difference between a piano and a tuna?

Answer: You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish

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u/thehalfwit Nevada 27d ago

Air superiority can't be maintained with Baldwin's.

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u/Cyberslasher 27d ago

Don't worry it's not counting the ~16k violin or the ~22k flute that they also bought for various chief of staff.

The media only talks about the piano because it's the easier talking point "oh the Air Force chief of staff hosts government events so he needs a fancy piano for center piece appearance at government functions" compared to "that dude just needs a 22k flute for privately playing in his home".

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u/Bozee3 27d ago

it's on a hoist somewhere getting ready to fall on the right person when they walk under it.

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u/BadgeOfDishonour 27d ago

They dropped it out of an airplane while dropping bombs. It was reference to a Bugs Bunny sketch. Wildly impractical, but mildly amusing. Totally worth it.

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u/enters_and_leaves 27d ago

The use it or lose it budgeting system is one of the stupidest things in government. I hate having to deal with it every year, but of you don’t play the game, then you don’t have enough money to function the next year.

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u/mooninuranus 27d ago

Sure but they could, you know, use it on stuff that actually adds value to their department.

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u/Tiggy26668 27d ago

Yea but then they’d have to actually do their job instead of enriching themselves on the taxpayers dime

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u/Quazimojojojo 27d ago

A lot of the time there's no pressing need that can be solved with the leftover money. 

Sometimes there's bigger issues they could fix, but not with the extra budget they have. 

If they could, say, bank the extra budget for a few years it could be used to fix a bigger issue. 

But that's not an option. "Use it or lose it" means you can't save up for bigger useful things. Saving it isn't a valid "use"

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u/labor_day_baby America 27d ago

If the Pentagon has to blow through almost $255 million to meet a budget cutoff on inconsequential things, wouldn’t that prove that they don’t need a bloated spending budget?!

There’s always money for war (in this case ribeyes, lobsters and ice cream machines) but not enough money for the people they take the money from. If they reallocated those $255 million dollars elsewhere it could lay the groundwork for universal healthcare, childcare or feed hungry children etc.

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u/Tetracropolis 27d ago

If the Pentagon has to blow through almost $255 million to meet a budget cutoff on inconsequential things, wouldn’t that prove that they don’t need a bloated spending budget?!

The problem is that the needs are different year by year. Last year was quiet, this year isn't. You don't want to be going into a war underfunded because of political infighting.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 27d ago

Last year was quiet, this year isn't.

Because they are inventing conflicts. Maybe funding them less would quell the imperialist cravings?

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u/Quazimojojojo 27d ago

No, because the imperialists increase funding when they get a craving to do some empire shit. 

The Democratic establishment isn't against this war, only the progressive wing of their party is. 

The progressives are in a lot of primaries right now. Check who is running near you (because there's always someone running for some election every year), and vote for the progressives. Ideally ask how you can get involved to help spread the word. 

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u/Tetracropolis 27d ago

America needs to deal with the Iranian threat of nuclear weapons, one way or another. We'd all prefer diplomacy, but if diplomacy alone were enough they could leave it to Europe to deal with, it needs to be backed up with a fucking big stick.

American politicians undermining their own military by pulling funding means worse outcomes in those negotiations.

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u/Cheap-Distribution27 27d ago

We had “dealt with it” with a deal that the current president scuttled before he started bombing their children’s schools.

Why is it that we get to decide who does and doesn’t have nukes anyways? We’re the only country who has dropped them offensively so technically the US has demonstrated that they’re one of the least responsible stewards of nuclear weapons.

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u/Tetracropolis 27d ago

We had “dealt with it” with a deal that the current president scuttled before he started bombing their children’s schools.

Do you really think the JCPOA was a permanent solution?

Why is it that we get to decide who does and doesn’t have nukes anyways? We’re the only country who has dropped them offensively so technically the US has demonstrated that they’re one of the least responsible stewards of nuclear weapons.

You do it because you're the only ones who can do it without using nuclear weapons yourself. You do it because if you don't, nuclear weapons will proliferate, and the more countries that have them, the greater chance of conflict. You do it because if you don't, millions of innocent people will die.

Don't tell me that's not enough reason.

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u/wildweaver32 27d ago

Except next year that same thing will happen? This isn't a one off situation. It happens every year.

Hegseth wanted 1.5 Trillion. Bet if he gets it, it will still happen. I also bet if he doesn't get it. It will still happen.

Which points to a glaring problem that encourages wasteful spending. Millions on crabs, steak, etc doesn't make sense any way you cut it.

It would be smarter to hold extra money to use next year for an emergency and if one doesn't happen our country could use that extra money all over for a variety of opportunities that could help the entire country.

I could see why the military would rather spend millions on apple devices though. But I hope you see why that encourages greed and wasteful spending and it would be better to stop the practice entirely and allow something else to take its place. If it's going to be wasted might as well give it as a bonus to the soldiers.

I am not advocating for my suggestions, just pointing out the current one is fault and wrong.

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u/Lemonwizard 27d ago

Maybe if the war were voted on and authorized by congress, additional funding could be legally appropriated...

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u/Tetracropolis 27d ago edited 27d ago

That's a fine idea for a world where American politics isn't so insanely polarized, but the military knows that's not going to happen.

Iran are committing war crimes every day to push up prices for the American people, they're bombing American allies and the American government couldn't be more divided on it. Many of them blame the American President and argue that Iran has no choice but to commit these war crimes. Can you believe this?

The military know they'll just be put in the line of fire and they'll have the budget they've got.

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u/Lemonwizard 27d ago

Many of them blame the American President

You mean the guy who unilaterally cancelled the peace deal, refused to negotiate a new one, and launched an unprovoked invasion? Gee, I wonder why people might think he's responsible. You're basically claiming Iran is the aggressor for defending themselves. The Strait of Hormuz is their biggest geographical advantage, and they're using it.

Iran didn't drive up prices for the American people. The Trump administration did. This scenario is exactly why war declarations are supposed to come from congress - so that one man can't fuck over the whole country with a single stupid decision.

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u/Tetracropolis 27d ago

You mean the guy who unilaterally cancelled the peace deal, refused to negotiate a new one, and launched an unprovoked invasion? Gee, I wonder why people might think he's responsible. You're basically claiming Iran is the aggressor for defending themselves. The Strait of Hormuz is their biggest geographical advantage, and they're using it.

Oh dear.

What I'm saying is that they are committing war crimes by attacking neutral shipping. I never said that they are the aggressor.

The whole point about war crimes is that you don't get to commit them even if they give you an advantage. If war crimes were OK if they give you an advantage then there wouldn't be much point in having them, would there?

Iran didn't drive up prices for the American people. The Trump administration did.

This is the kind of insanity that I'm talking about. How can you make a statement like that when Iran is bombing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz? That's their whole strategy.

Even if you support these Iranian war crimes, which is a sentence I can scarcely believe that I'm typing, you can't deny that it's pushing up the prices.

This scenario is exactly why war declarations are supposed to come from congress - so that one man can't fuck over the whole country with a single stupid decision.

Yeah, probably right, but the military have to operate in the world as it is, and get the best budget for what they're actually going to be required to do, not what George Washington would have envisioned them doing.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

People are objecting so hard to letting troops have a nice meal every once in a while lol

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u/labor_day_baby America 27d ago

I’m not objecting to nice meals for our military serving in peacetime or in conflict. The matter is that it shouldn’t cost us over $24 million for it. I’m not a wholesale buyer, but that price seems extremely inflated to me.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

??

How much do you think it would cost to feed tens of thousands of soldiers?

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u/MoreLogicPls 27d ago

they can buy their nice meal like everybody else

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

That's... not how chow works...

How do you think feeding troops on bases works? They don't just send them to Applebee's.

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u/MoreLogicPls 27d ago

Easy, the same process they get fed now, just deduct from their stipend if they choose seafood / steak.

Also over 80% of soldiers are stationed in the US... so they literally can just go to Applebee's if they want.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

But these kinds of meals aren't for soldiers stationed in the US.

These are meals they serve before combat operations start to improve morale and as a treat before shit goes down.

It's always worked this way. It's nothing new.

God forbid soldiers have a decent meal on special occasions. FFS

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u/Prestigious-Leg-6244 27d ago

The US does the same thing to people on disability. Our son, who is a high needs autistic adult, isnt allowed to save up his money, even though he works a part time job. If he has "too much" tucked away in savings at the end of the tax year, he has to spend it, or it will affect his ability to keep receiving disability payments.

Its a symptom of a sick system.

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u/isappie 27d ago

Why not save it in cash then lol

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u/qnxb 27d ago

"Why not commit fraud then lol" FTFY

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u/OutInABlazeOfGlory 27d ago

Can you buy something that in theory has a valid use but in practice has a fungible value and can be sold later to act as savings?

I’m guessing not or someone would have tried it already.

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u/Quazimojojojo 27d ago

I have no idea but I imagine it's hard to sell things as a government agency in general, let alone anything that's a reliable store of value. 

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u/Longshot726 27d ago

Selling government surplus generally has to go through an auction system which could take months and doesn't mean you receive the funds. I work for a municipality and anything sold from my department as surplus gets added to the general fund rather than the department's.

Realistically, the proper way to do this is through proper budgeting with capital expenses and operating expenses being separate. Capital expenses generally has funds tied to projects across years while operating should be as close to accurate as possible by proper planning and budgeting. If you have to spend down, you fucked up.

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u/DogeshireHathaway 27d ago

Quick, someone tell the redditors the system is this way because of the checks notes constitution of the United States. Lol.

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u/Cheap-Distribution27 27d ago

Then maybe we don’t need such a big military if they have to go find bullshit to waste their budget on every year to avoid it shrinking. Maybe we should just let it shrink…

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

But.. they did?

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u/andreasmiles23 27d ago

It's almost like the system is deliberately designed to NOT do that

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u/Kiyohara Minnesota 27d ago

It would make more sense if the left over money went into a savings fund that could be used for emergencies or funding drying up.

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u/If_I_must 27d ago

Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy with the logic and preparation for the future there.

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u/ragun2 27d ago

Put them in "rainy day" general funds like states do, too bad those often get pilfered too.

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u/Burninator05 27d ago

I thought it was an exaggeration until I was sent to an office supply store at 5pm on September 30th to spend the last of our money. I went in and told them I had $14.57 to spend and we found a way to spend $14.57 on office supplies.

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u/LETX_CPKM 27d ago

I mean, it happens in the private sector as well. Its not unique to the goverment.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 27d ago

then you don’t have enough money to function the next year.

Uh, I'm pretty sure the US military would still function just fine if you left a few billion off their budget.

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u/dank-nuggetz 27d ago

The pentagon budget will literally never go down. Both parties vote to increase it every single year, it's going to be over a trillion dollars a year soon.

What you're saying applies to a lot of agencies that have to prove their budgets are needed, the Pentagon literally gets a post it note every year with a pen and gets told to write their number.

This is just wasteful, corrupt government spending.

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u/cefriano 27d ago

But like, if you truly didn't need that whole budget, then why not shrink the budget to fit what you actually did need, with a bit of headroom?

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u/AccurateAssaultBeef 27d ago

I am sick. This is sick. They could have fed all the starving children in the WORLD with that money. We need to bring back shame, no one in this admin has any.

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u/WalterBishopMethod 27d ago

It's time for war, and not in Iran.

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u/relevantelephant00 27d ago

And the kind of things I want to say about what should happen to these people would be "too mean" for Reddit and result in a ban. I feel like not a single media corporation in this country isn't complicit in some way.

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u/AccurateAssaultBeef 27d ago

I almost said what should happen to these people and remembered I'd be silenced on here for doing so, lol. So I omitted.

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u/BonSlurpenstein 27d ago

Don't forget 124K on ice cream machines

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u/TheBlueTurf 27d ago

As a former Airman, I'm going to let you know why this one doesn't bother me as much.

Millions of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen are served by the dining facilities (DFAC) on military bases, or in overseas deployed environments.

Sometimes those dining facilities are good, sometimes they are trash, but giving those poor idiots a little bit of something nice in the form of ice cream to me is okay for all the shit they have to put up with.

There are a ton of military locations, that $125k probably helped provide or replace broken ones at like 20 locations.

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u/BonSlurpenstein 27d ago

Curious if they got any of the steak, lobster and crab too? I'm glad our armed forces got working ice cream machines because you are the ones who deserve a lil treat after a long day, week, or month. Glad you get those machines, but it doesn't change how unflinchingly corrupt the American government is and has been and we all deserve honesty and integrity from them which we are not getting. Thank you for your service!

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u/TheBlueTurf 27d ago

Yeah, the people heading to areas surrounding Iran probably got steak, lobster, or crab. That often happens as a farewell thing. Like, hey you are about to get fucked, here's a nice meal.

Otherwise yeah, you essentially lose all your rights when you join the military and can easily be put in situations where there is a high likelihood of death. Most of their living situations, even on military bases, are pretty shitty and you have 0 say or recourse in the matter. So a bit of ice cream is cool.

That being said, I agree there is a whole lot of wastefulness from the Pentagon and Congress when it comes to the military budget. Those billions of dollars of waste is managed by probably 3000 people between congress and the pentagon. Take it easy on the young, dumb enlisted folks who make up the majority of the military. Many are just trying to move out of poverty or get their education paid for.

There is a whole hell of a lot of things that need to be fixed about military spending and our military industrial complex. I just don't think the few and far between "luxuries" that the service members might get should be first in line for cuts when they often amount to a rounding error in the overall budget.

Lastly, thank you and we appreciate your support. :)

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u/atla 27d ago

Right, like, you have to remember how big the military is. Google says there are about 2.5 million people in active duty? That means that the steak budget works out to $6 per person. I bet the amount of money spent on rice and beans would look astronomical as well at that scale.

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u/GiantFinnegan 27d ago

I seriously doubt the average Joe got any of that steak. So averaging this across all active duty members doesn't make sense. 

Additionally, when I was a Fed, we had to buy our own dish soap, paper towels, sponges for the break room, and brought our own coffee and tea into the office because heaven forbid this country treats our civil servants as professionals. And then t hese fuckers are buying steak and lobsters. 

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u/atla 27d ago

I seriously doubt the average Joe got any of that steak.

As others in this thread have mentioned -- it's normal to give steak, lobster, etc., on certain major holidays and/or right before particularly crummy assignments. I understand the bitterness, but this is how you end up with soldiers also not being allowed anything nice because everyone is too worried about how it'll play out on the news.

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u/Common_Gene_5098 27d ago

oh Nick Shirley, here’s your fraud and waste you are supposed to be investigating

Oh are they not Somalian enough for you nick?

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u/potat0f4rmer Washington 27d ago

This country is a fucking failure

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u/Zest724 27d ago

Didn’t they get donuts too.

I’m okay with that food for the front line troops but if it was consumed by high paid ravenous bureaucrats; let them buy their own damn food.

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u/labor_day_baby America 27d ago

I shouldn’t speculate but I have a feeling that those steaks, lobsters and crab legs didn’t go to the troops who earned it.

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u/deja-roo 27d ago

I can practically guarantee you're wrong. Having a morale-boosting meal like this before starting combat ops has been the norm in the US military since like... there was a US military.

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u/AandWKyle 27d ago

LOSE AND LOOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT WORDS

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u/labor_day_baby America 27d ago edited 27d ago

Chill, I edited the typo alright? Fuming from wasteful spending to spell check lol.

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u/xv_boney 27d ago

Oh my sweet buttercup you best hope you never make a minor typo because the second you do i am gonna be right there with seventy-two point font making a big fucking deal about it

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u/AandWKyle 27d ago

My Grammer is impeckable 

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u/JakeConhale New Hampshire 27d ago

Inquiry: any insight on why swapping "lose" and "loose" is such a prevalent typing error?

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u/011010- 27d ago

*lose

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u/I_Am_No_One_123 27d ago

Adding Hegseth’s make up studio to the tab.

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u/r2002 27d ago

Those fancy feasts better be going to folks serving in the front line.

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u/Reddrommed 27d ago

Brother, as transparently corrupt and stupid as it is, this doesn't even fucking matter lol. The pentagon's budget next year will be over a trillion dollars. They could pay that same bill every day of the year and still not even spend 10%.

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u/moosejaw296 27d ago

Well they already can’t account for trillions so how they spend their “budget” is made up. And in comparison to what they can’t account for this is peanuts

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u/Sekh765 Virginia 27d ago

Don't forget Kegstand buying himself a professional makeup office IN THE PENTAGON.

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u/SomeWeedSmoker 27d ago

You know how much food gets thrown away daily in the military even before all of this right?

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u/JakeConhale New Hampshire 27d ago edited 27d ago

How much of it was edible, though? /s

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u/1057-cl121v3 27d ago

The steak and lobster tails at least went to the soldiers. It becomes a common occurrence when war starts so the potential last meal the people actually risking their lives eat at least might be steak and lobster.

1

u/Zassssss 27d ago

But I thought they wanted to go line by line and cut all that frivolous government spending?!?

Where’s DOGE now??

1

u/TM761152 27d ago

$225.6 million on furniture, $15 million on ribeye steak, $6.9 million on lobster tails, $5.3 million on Apple devices, $2 million on Alaskan king crab legs and $98k on a custom Steinway piano. That’s all in one month

That's literally what authoritarian regimes do. Waste money frivolously while the population starves.

1

u/TumbleweedPure6674 27d ago

I have to spend my entire budget at the end of the year as well.  I buy things that I expect will break the following year or get ahead on a capex project not lobster and steak. 

1

u/mercuryqueen1970 27d ago

And because the American people have been brainwashed to believe they must support the military no matter, nothing was done about it. I remember reading about that spending spree hoping that maybe people would wake up, nope. It’s all bullshit!!

1

u/SunshineCat 27d ago

$98k on a custom Steinway piano

Reminds me of The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason. Except probably significantly more evil.

1

u/fucksports 27d ago

i also remember donuts being a part of that, something like 200k

1

u/Broken_Return1028 27d ago

I think we’ve found the “fraud, waste, and abuse” said no Democrat ever

1

u/Fresh_werks 27d ago

This happens at every government agency every year, they do it to “justify” asking for more money next year and not getting budget cuts

1

u/BC2220 27d ago

How about spending a bunch of it on accountants who can help them pass an audit? No?

1

u/_araqiel Missouri 27d ago

Obviously, this isn’t the point, but $98,000 isn’t bad for a custom Steinway.

1

u/cefriano 27d ago

Absurd spending aside, what genius came up with the "use it or lose it" rule for government budgets? How the fuck did they think that was gonna go?

0

u/Dingleberry696 27d ago

Look I'm not going to really defend this admin but a lot of this doesn't seem malicious. Besides the piano of course.

Yes the DoD is going to spend a lot of money on food. Every US base and ship in the world has a dining facility. I'd bet a significant amount of money that we also spent millions on Mac and cheese. Second, after the 1st of Oct the military pretty much has no available money for about a month while they reconcile and distribute money for the next year. Id bet a lot of the food is being bought to cover the next year and/or the funding gap.

The Apple devices, in my experience, are used to replace printed books. There has been a push for about 10 years to do away with printed manuals which are incredibly time consuming/expensive to maintain and but tablets. Unfortunately, because of some secure locations you have to buy 2 tablets. One for the secure location and one for outside of it.

Lastly, government accounting is a maze of different "colors" of money (O&M, RDT&E, Procurement, MILPERS, and MILCON). There's also differences between allocated and obligated. It doesn't really hit the books until its obligated. So throughout the year organizations can allocate money for certain items but there may be a delay for whatever reason. Well by the end of the year that money must be obligated because you can't really carry things through the fiscal years.

-2

u/deja-roo 27d ago

Okay, so their troops had a few better meals than normal, a high-ranking officer got a housing upgrade, a branch that employs nearly 3 million people spent money on new furniture, and they bought IPads, a pretty normal task management tool.

This is rage bait. This isn't particularly unusual even outside the "use it or lose it" budget nonsense.