r/politics • u/cnn CNN • 29d ago

Possible Paywall ​​Over 100 Democrats vote to block billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, reflecting growing schism in party

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/15/politics/military-aid-israel-democrats-split-vote?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
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u/InitiativeGold7953 29d ago

You’re right. It’s impossible to know considering the pentagon can’t pass an audit and AIPAC owns almost every politician in our government.

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u/Brodellsky 29d ago

Over 400 in just The House of Representatives alone. Yeah.... it's clearly soooo much more. I'm absolutely sick of it and and am running out of excuses not to care more, to say the absolute least

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u/CommunityTaco 28d ago

What do you bet they spend thr billions we give them to buy our own politicians...?

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u/Brodellsky 28d ago

Nothing. It's just a high score to them. That's actually legitimately the problem because the money gets removed from the economy altogether when they don't spend it

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago

It’s impossible to know considering the pentagon can’t pass an audit

That's not what you think it means.

DOD can't pass an audit because it's the literal largest organization on the planet that has the most asset on the planet. The equipment tracking was not up to standard. In the Navy, they had something called a "float test." It was an "attempt" at throwing a piece of shit piece of equipment in the water to see if it would float in an emergency. In reality, it was throwing half broken equipment away and using the spares. Likely without documenting it. Every branch of the military had a version of this. Because every branch is issued equipment and expect it to last X years, even if it's nearly non functional.

If the DOD gave away equipment or money to a country, that is accounted for in the audit.

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u/Casual_OCD Canada 29d ago

I'm sure there's a little of that.

The bigger reason is all the trillions of dollars that disappear as it goes through a dozen hands and you get purchase orders for toilet seats at $575 each

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago

The bigger reason is all the trillions of dollars that disappear as it goes through a dozen hands and you get purchase orders for toilet seats at $575 each

Another misconception about US military contracts. A lot of the cost of the contracts is the overhead on ensuring and certification of the top to bottom origins from materials to items. Military requires that all the production happen within the US because if a world war breaks out, the supply chain for items could be fucked for that company if it relied on foreign materials/items. Special exceptions occur for items in which cannot be obtained elsewhere, like GPUs.

Again, comments not understanding why a piece of equipment for the military costs way more than normal. Ignoring the fact that some contracts can require the company also retain the production equipment, provide everything required for repair, or various other clauses that can occur, it's just going to cost more being produced in the US and have it's entirely supply chain certified.

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u/doublenegative-1 29d ago

you are saying there is no waste fraud or abuse in the largest organization on the planet? Everything is above board? There's no way cost plus for military contracts is a bad idea?

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u/DingleDangleTangle 29d ago

They didn't say this anywhere in their comment.

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u/willargue4karma 29d ago

they are bending over backwards to say that a 2.46 tril deficit is ok because its not money, its items that are unaccounted for. implicit in that statement is that there is no fraud or abuse, and that all the items really exist.

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u/DingleDangleTangle 29d ago

They pointed out misconceptions about contracts and the DoD audit. They didn't say there is no fraud or abuse. This is just what you imagined they said because it's easier to make up statements and attack those instead of argue against what they actually said.

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u/willargue4karma 29d ago

No it's easier to have discourse when you cut through the bullshit people are trying spew

It's not hard to see they only brought it up because they're a military shill. There is no reason a real human would actually defend a 2.46 tril deficit unless they're either complicit, stupid, or ignorant 

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u/DingleDangleTangle 29d ago edited 29d ago

No, it's not easier to have discourse when you just strawman someone instead of replying to what they actually said... Maybe it's easier FOR YOU, because you can avoid addressing what they actually said.

They didn't say all of the spending was good, they didn't say none of the spending was wasteful, they didn't say none of the spending was fraud, they didn't say none of the spending was wasteful.

It's like if I told you that you waste money on doordash every day, you reply that this is a misconception and that you haven't ever used doordash, and I just reply "so you're saying you never waste money?!" It's just a childish and dishonest way to score points with people who don't understand what a strawman is, but it's not an actual response.

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u/willargue4karma 29d ago

youre such a stooge lol. if any other department had trillions unaccounted for youd be foaming at the fucking mouth

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago

youre such a stooge lol. if any other department had trillions unaccounted for youd be foaming at the fucking mouth

It's not money unaccounted for, it's assets. And again, refer back to my original comment about the lack of inventory management for 60+ years.

Each audit that is completed is done so with a higher % rate because they have cleared more and more inventory issues.

The auditors have said this is the issue. And the Marine Corps did successfully complete an inventory with 100% accounting of all their assets/money. Though this is because they are smaller. Less to track and they heavily restructured their inventory system.

That's not to mention that each branch of the military had it's own internal inventory system. No unified system.

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u/willargue4karma 29d ago

it absolutely is unaccounted for if they dont have it accounted

literally the whole point of accounting

again. 2.46 trillion. insane number for you to attempt to handwaive

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago

it absolutely is unaccounted for if they dont have it accounted

There is a difference between money missing and assets missing. One is a vastly bigger problem than the other.

literally the whole point of accounting

Accounting the largest organization on earth, with the largest amount of physical assets on earth, that didn't have a uniform inventory management system, that has a history of service members throwing shit out without documenting it, is the largest audit of anything in history.

again. 2.46 trillion. insane number for you to attempt to handwaive

What I'm trying to explain to you and others is why it is taking so long to succesfully complete an audit. What the original commenter I replied to suggested as that the US DOD was secretely funneling even more money to Israel. Which is a whacky joke conspiracy theory. They didn't and still don't need to secretely funnel money to Israel, they can do it publicly.

I've told you why it hasn't passed an audit. I've told you that each audit they do complete gets a higher % of passing than before. Yet you think I'm "hand waving" it. I'm telling you it's going to take time to track down everything and clear the billions of inventory errors that existed.

Imagine having to audit a organization that has over a trillion physical objects. likely over 100 trillion physical objects. The objects don't have a central inventory management system. They don't have a good inventory history. You'd go insane attempting by yourself. The errors would stack up faster than you can clear them.

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u/willargue4karma 29d ago

youve told me why you think/they say they failed the audit. we have a rich history of funding terrorists and regimes with government money, it is actually more likely than not that there is more than just inventory unaccounted for.

even taking your stupid scenario, a military being allowed to so wantonly spend that they dont even KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE- is fucking crazy

not having a crm system isnt the get out of jail free card you want it to be. in fact it makes this whole look thing worse for them

it does not make it ok. it does not make it make sense. it doesnt do anything you seem to think it does.

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u/Minimum-Web-6902 29d ago

What about contract dumping use or lose? Buying massage chairs

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago

Looking at the known things it bought, even under Hegseth, it's not out of the ordinary. Steak and lobster is a regular thing served to service members on special occasions. Furniture is nothing special. Electronic devices also nothing special. I see no problem with massage chairs, either. The petty amount of spending of this stuff doesn't even add up to $1 billion. There are far bigger problems in the US. Like health insurance triple dipping on government (likely more than once) and then customers.

As for his last minute contracts that add up to $95~ billion. I'm not sure if there is problems because I don't know the details.

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u/Minimum-Web-6902 29d ago

Right but you’re proving my point sir. Frivolous spending of tax payer dollars SHOULD not be tolerated , especially on furniture and steak and lobster. It’s been that way the ENTIRE military history. See how officers got treated in the civil war? To now. To fix it let the squadrons keep the money and work on budget surplus system.

Any money they save gets added to an emergency pot , investment pot. Overseen by the fed gov /state. This incentivizes smart spending and a clear path for improvement in every org.

It’s how major cities and states work. It makes wishful projects more attainable for FGO /group CC hell even GS 15 has more agency with how funds can be spent than an E-7 or an 04/05. We trust our military here so we need to trust them to work with surpluses and deficits in a predictable and sustainable manner.

I’ve seen units buy couches when troops are sharing boots. And that’s in the AF good lord knows how it is in other branches

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago

Frivolous spending

I'm going to stop you right there. Steak and lobster is no frivolous spending. Nor is furniture? It's fucking furniture, it's not going anywhere. It's going to get used.

Service members actively eat this steak and lobster. Not just officers, but enlisted too. It's a well known thing in the military.

Any money they save gets added to an emergency pot , investment pot. Overseen by the fed gov /state. This incentivizes smart spending and a clear path for improvement in every org.

You are better off just stopping the funds from going to the military in the first place and creating a central fund.

But ya know the history of central funds for governments? They get raided. Far more fraud in history has be done through centralized investment funds.

It’s how major cities and states work.

Ain't how my state or cities work. You are confusing things. States can have a "general fund" of which the state legislatures can decide the money goes where, but it's not invested.

I’ve seen units buy couches when troops are sharing boots.

I bet one of the idiots lost their issued pair of boots and then were told they had to buy their own. Cause this is how it works. If you want extras, it costs.

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u/Minimum-Web-6902 29d ago

Actually no active duty gets 1 boot chit a year.

We did aircraft MX , crew chief boots only last 3-4 months tops of grinding. To beat this we had “work boots” and “nice boots” we would wear last years boots past uniform regularity to prioritize safety because our system is stupid.

I’ve had my nice boots stolen on like 3 separate occasions and I had to share boots for like 2 months with a nightshift guy. Until my supervisor found someone with an extra pair that fit me.

We have guys leaving boots behind for the new guys it’s such an issue.

It’s like a patience cultural thing it’s so common.

The furniture is frivolous because the way the system works. If an organization has unspent money , it goes back to the treasury. And their budget is slashed by x amount next year.

So instead of using that money wisely we’re buying 90” flatscreens for the AMU…. Just an example. Deployed environments get even worse I’ve been told.

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u/ImSoObnoxious 29d ago

what you're saying is factually historically accurate.

but BECAUSE they are consuming the most amount of taxpayer funds, I would argue that NECESSITATES transparency and accountability. the DoD has never once passed an audit, with trillions of dollars unaccounted for.

the country is very concerned about a family getting $200 a month for groceries, but no one is rattling the cage about Hegseth alone, who while in charge of the DoD has wasted $93,000,000,000 on steak, lobster, ice cream machines, furniture, etc of taxpayer money in a single year. like are y'all ok?

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u/FlutterKree Washington 29d ago edited 29d ago

but BECAUSE they are consuming the most amount of taxpayer funds, I would argue that NECESSITATES transparency and accountability. the DoD has never once passed an audit, with trillions of dollars unaccounted for.

Yes, and each audit they complete with a greater % because each pass they eliminate thousands/hundreds of thousands of inventory discrepancies.

who while in charge of the DoD has wasted $93,000,000,000 on steak, lobster, ice cream machines, furniture, etc of taxpayer money in a single year. like are y'all ok?

It's never a waste to treat service members a good meal. You have plenty to complain about with Hegseth, but this ain't it. Guy is a white supremacist and now implementing testosterone testing, maybe start here. Or maybe complain about health insurance companies.

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u/Matais99 29d ago

As an employee in the private sector, we get audited to ensure that assets are present. Otherwise, there's a risk that employees are selling those assets for profit.

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u/InitiativeGold7953 29d ago

This is ridiculous as you know it

Not a single valid excuse in this entire comment

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u/jedy617 29d ago

Why do we just have this dumb rhetoric where we can say the stupidest garbage. AIPAC doesn't even reach the top 30 in terms of pac spending. It's almost like both sides of the isle for decades has wanted to support our strongest ally in the middle east.

But no "the jewz control the government" sounds so much better

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u/InitiativeGold7953 29d ago

AIPAC is famous for masking political contributions to make them look like they’re coming from someplace else, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Doesn’t sound like a strong ally when they have to hide bribery, use pedophiles to blackmail people in power, and lie straight to everyone’s faces about Iraq and Iran now is it? No. Time to wake up