Democrats are driving up cost of war by failing to approve clean supplemental

NY Times:

As the Army juggles its financial accounts and cuts logistical corners to maintain combat operations during a budget standoff between the White House and Congress, efficiency and economy are likely to be the first casualties.

The Army has announced that it would squeeze out money for the continuing war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan by requesting the temporary transfer of $1.6 billion from Air Force and Navy payrolls and slowing the purchase of spare parts and other supplies not bound for those countries. It also said it would freeze new civilian hires and suspend some service contracts.

Whether in war or in peace, this kind of stop-and-start spending pattern has long been recognized as one of the chief sources of inefficiency and cost overruns in military programs, which are always subject to the shifting priorities reflected in annual White House budget proposals and subsequent Congressional spending legislation.

Faced last year with a budget standoff between the White House and Congress, then held by Republicans, the Army pinched pennies by making moves similar to this year’s to guarantee money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It halted civilian hiring, froze orders for nonessential spare parts, reduced administrative travel and transferred large sums from other Army accounts to its combat operations.

Pentagon budget officials have said that extra costs resulting from unusual spending restrictions are seen first in the area of contracts. “Rather than sign a long-term contract, one tied to performance, we may have to contract for goods and services incrementally, job by job as required, under these new rules,” said a Pentagon budget official who was not authorized to speak for attribution. “That is a nightmare. It is inefficient, and more expensive. You would never run your household that way.”

This year’s steps, announced Monday night, were devised to find money to continue Army combat operations through June — time, perhaps, for the White House and Congress to settle their differences.

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It is past time for the Democrats to quit playing politics with the lives of our troops and the success of their mission. What they are doing to pander to their kook base is disgusting and harmful to national security. It certainly is not patriotic and it will not help the troops under any rationalization.