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| Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 12:02:37 -0400 (EDT) |
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| To: announce@hq.lp.org |
| Subject: LP RELEASE: Outrageous military spending |
| From: Libertarian Party Announcements <owner-announce@lp.org> |
| Reply-To: owner-announce@hq.lp.org |
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| =============================== |
| NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY |
| 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 |
| Washington DC 20037 |
| World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org |
| =============================== |
| For release: July 25, 2002 |
| =============================== |
| For additional information: |
| George Getz, Press Secretary |
| Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 |
| E-Mail: pressreleases@hq.LP.org |
| =============================== |
| |
| Thousands spent on strippers, golf memberships |
| shows Pentagon spending is out of control, Libertarians say |
| |
| WASHINGTON, DC -- Quiz question: Which of the following items have been |
| charged to the taxpayers recently by military personnel wielding |
| government-issued credit cards? |
| |
| (a) $38,000 for lap dancing at strip clubs near military bases. |
| |
| (b) $3,400 for a Sumo wrestling suit and $9,800 for Halloween costumes. |
| |
| (c) $7,373 for closing costs on a home and $16,000 for a corporate golf |
| membership. |
| |
| (d) $4,600 for white beach sand and $19,000 worth of decorative "river |
| rock" at a military base in the Arabian desert. |
| |
| (e) all of the above. |
| |
| "Incredibly, the answer is 'all of the above,' said Steve Dasbach, |
| Libertarian Party executive director. "Thanks to the federal |
| government's policy of doling out credit cards with no questions asked, |
| the military has launched a raid on your wallet." |
| |
| The shocking revelations are contained in a General Accounting Office |
| audit released last week that uncovered $101 million in "seemingly |
| unneeded expenditures" made by the Air Force and Army in 2000 and |
| 2001. The purchases were made possible by the federal government's lax |
| credit card policy: At least 1.4 million Defense Department employees |
| carry credit cards, and last year they used them to splurge on $6.1 |
| billion in goods and services, the audit found. |
| |
| In one case, a group of 200 soldiers used their military IDs and |
| government-issued travel cards to get cash at adult-entertainment bars, |
| then spent the money there. The clubs charged a 10 percent fee to |
| supply the soldiers with cash -- then billed the full amount to their |
| travel cards as a restaurant charge, the GAO found. |
| |
| "Are these warriors really fighting terrorism while frolicking in a |
| strip club, or defending our country while wearing a Sumo wrestling |
| suit?" asked Dasbach. "Americans who support a bigger defense budget, |
| take note: The Pentagon frequently behaves like any other bloated, |
| reckless government agency. It promises your money will be spent on the |
| worthiest of causes, then squanders it on things you could never even |
| imagine." |
| |
| Other spending uncovered by the audit included $45,000 for luxury |
| cruises, $1,800 for executive pillows, and $24,000 for a sofa and |
| armchair at a military installation in the Middle East, Dasbach noted. |
| |
| Some military employees actually defended the purchases, the audit |
| noted, by saying that recreational items such as golf memberships can |
| be "a useful tool for building good relations with a host country" |
| such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. |
| |
| Not surprisingly, Dasbach said, the audit found "little evidence of |
| documented disciplinary action" against those who misused the cards, |
| so taxpayers may end up paying the tab. |
| |
| "It's time to impose a little military discipline on these deadbeat |
| Defense Department workers, and force them to personally reimburse |
| taxpayers for every penny of improper spending," he said. |
| |
| "Then cut the Pentagon's massive $379 billion budget to help guard |
| against such wasteful spending in the future. Perhaps that's one way to |
| force the Pentagon to spend its resources defending the country, |
| instead of offending the taxpayer." |
| |
| |
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| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ |
| 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008 |
| Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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