U.S. troop funds diverted to pet projects

[kwilliams1130]

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/15/troop-funds-diverted-to-pet-projects/

Study finds $2.6 billion taken from guns and ammunition

By Shaun Waterman THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to an analysis.

Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25 million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and $20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.

While earmarks are hardly new in Washington, "in 30 years on Capitol Hill, I never saw Congress mangle the defense budget as badly as this year," said Winslow Wheeler, a former Senate staffer who worked on defense funding and oversight for both Republicans and Democrats. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information, an independent research organization.

Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, called the transfer of funds from Pentagon operations and maintenance "a disgrace."

"The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and women fighting on the front lines," he said in a statement.

[KrhMsh]

Oct. 15, 2009 at 5:14 PM

Because it's not like we have TOO many of our men over seas dying everyday, Let's just tighten the noose, it's already tight they won't know the difference. Fucking thank you government. I am huge on WW2 history and education, but who the fuck is going to enjoy these things if our troops die and we get bombed because of ignorant assholes who know NOTHING, they don't have kids or relatives over seas fighting, and they never will, so because it's not their family is doesn't matter. If I haven't said it enough, I say it now for my husband who is deployed over seas, my friends husband who is in Iraq and all the other men and women over there suffering and dying while congress pulls this bullshit, F*CK YOU!