Report:
Pentagon Pays More Than $400 for $39 Sinks
A
national budget watchdog group today blasted the Pentagon
for a lack of oversight that led to $1.2 million in overpayments
at the Philadelphia Defense Supply Center.
Taxpayers
for Common Sense (TCS), a budget watchdog group that promotes
better Pentagon accounting standards, said the overpayments
were an outrage.
"Taxpayers
should be infuriated that the Pentagon sent so much of their
money down the drain," commented Alise Frye, Director
of TCS's National Security Project. "Especially as
lawmakers are preparing to shell out even more tax dollars
for defense spending."
Revelations of the overpayments, including $409 payments
for sinks valued at only $39, surfaced in a report released
last week by the Department of Defense's Office of the Inspector
General.
"Lax
accounting and management at DoD like this cost Americans
more than just their tax dollars," continued Frye,
"Fraud by suppliers, minimal oversight, and little
accountability to taxpayers threatens national security
by wasting resources better applied to real defense needs."
A
computer system that is supposed to prevent such excessive
spending failed to identify vendors charging excessive markups,
according to the Inspector General's report. The system
only checked for price markups from previous orders with
that vendor, rather than comparing prices with other vendors
the Philadelphia Supply Center used.
Overpayments
at the Philadelphia Supply Center could total $3 million.
Total overpayments for DoD purchases are probably even higher,
warns the group. The Philadelphia Supply Center is just
one of three buying houses for the DoD.
Some
Members of Congress have proposed significant increases
in Defense spending even as Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld is conducting a comprehensive review of Pentagon
spending.
"Hopefully,
The Bush Administration will increase oversight and not
just spending levels at the Pentagon," concluded Frye.
