"but whether it works" - Part "TV Trucks in Kabul" - Obama Federal Govt "working"? - Granite Grok

“but whether it works” – Part “TV Trucks in Kabul” – Obama Federal Govt “working”?

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.”            – President Barack Obama, Inauguration, 1/20/09

Works means it accomplished something worthwhile with little waste and a good return on our investment.  Yeah, President Obama, this is YOUR Government “working well” (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Millions of dollars worth of television news trucks are sitting under tarps in Kabul years after the State Department bought them as donations for Afghan broadcasters, a letter from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said.  One of the three trucks, which together cost the government $3.6 million, was damaged en route to Afghanistan in July.  Purchased to help Afghans cover live sporting events, the satellite trucks are “still covered by shipping material.”

July.  Which means this year.  Which means the Obama Administration.  So, even as we are blowing up and scrapping other expensive gear that costs taxpayers tens if not hundreds of dollars – what, you couldn’t repurpose some of those vehicles?  After all, they’re just setting around, too!  But wait – it gets worse:

The State Department has yet to name a recipient for the trucks.  The agency originally negotiated a $6 million contract to buy communications equipment and six vehicles, including two Ford ES350 trucks for $157,300 each, in August 2011. According to the contract, the shipment was supposed to arrive at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul within 180-210 days.

Yeah…let’s spend millions on stuff that no one “owns” and is serving no purpose other than to create rust after running up a huge carbon footprint in travelling to a place not to be used.

Hey, why stop at trucks!

In July, SIGAR similarly criticized the Defense Department’s decision to send a pair of C-130 aircraft to the Afghan Air Force despite evidence that the country couldn’t handle the air support it had already received. The C130s cost $40.5 million each, SIGAR said.  Since its inception in 2008, SIGAR hasquestioned $78 million in government spending on Afghan projects.

No purpose, no use, but price is no object?

Again, Mr. Obama, who is our Government working for?

 

 

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