Volume XVI No.37: September 12, 2014
TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE–For sheer chutzpah, it’s hard to beat the reprogramming request the Pentagon sent to Capitol Hill this week. This reprogramming seeks to transfer $1.9 billion in previously approved Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) cash to programs different than those the Congress originally approved. Reprogramming funding is not unheard of – typically these requests transfer money to accounts like fuel, travel expenses, or wartime \”expendables\” like ammunition that is being used at a faster rate than originally anticipated.
With this request, however, the Pentagon is asking to transfer $1.3 billion from Army and Pentagon-wide Operations and Maintenance accounts to build more F-35s than originally requested for both the Marine Corps and the Air Force. Just to be clear, F-35s cannot be used in combat today, or tomorrow. How can they replace combat aircraft? How are they at all a part of overseas \”contingencies\”?
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