We really can’t evaluate these spending items isolated from other agencies and other years to know context and history. I looked where the Air Force chief lives and it is in a historic structure near Arlington cemetery. I’m sure we spend what is necessary to preserve the building historic value. I’m guessing the Steinway was in keeping with that effort. The fact that this purchase occurred at the end of the fiscal year tells me it wasn’t a spending priority and was subject to how much money was left at year end.
My understanding is steak and lobster are the typical harbinger of an extended deployment.
Plus, the pictures I’ve seen look gross. Shit pulled out of the freezer. This isn’t exactly Ocean Prime quality we’re talking about here.
I have seen this "we have year end money and have to spend it" stuff. Anyone who doesn't believe it wastes money, huge amounts of money, has no idea much this happens.
I despise the way they spend our money and this is part of the reason why. I wish the .gov would do zero based budgeting.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
I have seen this "we have year end money and have to spend it" stuff. Anyone who doesn't believe it wastes money, huge amounts of money, has no idea much this happens.
I despise the way they spend our money and this is part of the reason why. I wish the .gov would do zero based budgeting.
I agree. I cannot help but think the no big deal group wouldn't think that if HHS bought the piano at the end of the year.
If government efficiency is a goal, why allow crazy "use it or lose it" purchases.
I have seen this "we have year end money and have to spend it" stuff. Anyone who doesn't believe it wastes money, huge amounts of money, has no idea much this happens.
I despise the way they spend our money and this is part of the reason why. I wish the .gov would do zero based budgeting.
I agree. I cannot help but think the no big deal group wouldn't think that if HHS bought the piano at the end of the year.
If government efficiency is a goal, why allow crazy "use it or lose it" purchases.
That is the nature of budgets. And it’s not specific to government. If you come in under budget, you get slashed.
If you want to see massive budget slashes government wide, we may be on to something.
But that’s not what you want.
@carramrod I want right spending. If it costs $1 billion per weapons system needed, I don't want 1.1 billion spent. That is true on social programs too.
In my IT years I helped people order very powerful computers just to open Word, Excel, and Chrome. It always seemed a waste to buy top of the line just because they wanted to be seen as important. I fully accept frugality. Government should spend what it needs to achieve the mission, but not spend just to spend.
@carramrod I want right spending. If it costs $1 billion per weapons system needed, I don't want 1.1 billion spent. That is true on social programs too.
In my IT years I helped people order very powerful computers just to open Word, Excel, and Chrome. It always seemed a waste to buy top of the line just because they wanted to be seen as important. I fully accept frugality. Government should spend what it needs to achieve the mission, but not spend just to spend.
Then you need to put in place fiscal constraints. Departments. Left to their own devices will spend every dollar budgeted and more.
This is reality.
I thought you were like a network systems guy?
You just helped people open word and excel?
In my IT years I helped people order very powerful computers just to open Word, Excel, and Chrome. It always seemed a waste to buy top of the line just because they wanted to be seen as important. I fully accept frugality. Government should spend what it needs to achieve the mission, but not spend just to spend.
LOL.
I built my current desktop fifteen years ago. It was pretty robust for its day, but not top of the line by any means. I've since added memory and an SSD. As much as I would love to have a hot new machine, I can't for the life of me justify one.
We can always tell when outfits like INDOT or City Fleet Services or Monroe Co. Highway are at the end of their fiscal years. They're ordering in all kinds of "nice to have" stuff that they don't normally buy throughout the year. Sold a lot of Milwaukee electric tools this year.
Not possible to tell yet. I don’t yet understand how the Pentagon would have a food bill. Food isn’t a DoD wide budget item.So this hit piece should have explained how much of the cost of gourmet food will be reimbursed?
@carramrod I was a systems admin guy but that meant helping the workstation guys when they were busy or off. Fortunately, until the last few years I never had to help the crazies, err, Mac people. I ran my own update server and Sharepoint, 3 SQL servers, 5 web servers, two file, 2 print, and 1email. Eventually IU expanded its infrastructure to absorb some of that.
I was the only person who knew how to deal with the web and SQL servers, which meant I was on call 24x7x365. I finally moved to Active Directory and workstation, even God foresaken Macs, the last couple of years just to take a vacation without needing to answer every phone call.
I loved the systems admin. I just didn't love missing most of a game sitting in a quiet spot of Assembly Hall talking someone through a problem, or two hours in 95 degree heat in one of the Gettysburg fire towers, or trying to find the family at Epcot as they left me to continue their fun as I dealt with a slow server.
Oh, and I have a deep loathing of programmers who update code without testing at 5 PM on a Friday because I could be called if it broke something.
The fact that this purchase occurred at the end of the fiscal year tells me it wasn’t a spending priority and was subject to how much money was left at year end.
This is the problem.
"The sum of fifty thousand Dollars, appropriated by Congress for providing gunboats, remains unexpended. the favorable & peaceable turn of affairs, on the Missisipi, rendered an immediate execution of that law unnecessary." - T. Jefferson
Jefferson made a point not to spend unnecessary funds. Our officials today make it a point to spend whatever unnecessary funds might be left over. That is now how you get to fiscal responsibility.
I have seen this "we have year end money and have to spend it" stuff. Anyone who doesn't believe it wastes money, huge amounts of money, has no idea much this happens.
I despise the way they spend our money and this is part of the reason why. I wish the .gov would do zero based budgeting.
Zero based budgeting sounds great until you apply it to the revenue side. Then it just boils down to "do more with less."
$15.1 million on ribeye steak. And Hegseth probably puts ketchup on it.
I’m surprised Marv went there but you’ve once again showed your lack of knowledge.
Is this an abnormal occurrence for the troops? Why do you not support the troops?
I didn't discuss the steak because it may have been for the troops, may not have been.
But look at the article, fruit basket holders? The piano?
https://twitter.com/Schwalm5132/status/2032106736115486910
Nobody needs a damn piano
Pics or GTFOMrs. Cox would have had you begging for mercy, even though she was in her 70s.
You don't want pics of that old crow.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
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