The source of Pentagon waste: Two long wars? Overpriced hardware? Nope. "High quality, glossy color prints."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/gop-plan-cut-defense-no-color-copies-westOver the weekend, House Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) paraded out tea party darling and retired Army lieutenant colonel Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), to announce a bold initiative that would reduce military spending by $37.5 million this year: cutting color copies. "After serving 22 years in the United States Army, I am aware of areas where saving money is very possible," West said of his proposed paper cuts, which Congress passed with bipartisan support Monday night. But despite the fanfare, his proposed trim is so paltry—just 0.00357 percent of the entire annual defense-related budget, or what the US spends on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq every two-and-a-half hours—that it's adding to tea partiers' growing concerns about whether Republicans are serious about budget-cutting.
West originally had three proposals to chop the military budget: reduce the Defense Department's printing expenditures by 10 percent; stop producing so many military research reports; and deny pay raises to Pentagon employees with poor evaluations. Cantor posted the three plans on his "YouCut" website and asked readers to pick their favorite, which West would then introduce as a House bill. Voters overwhelmingly chose the printing-budget reduction. As Cantor explained, "While paper copies are often necessary for mission accomplishment, DOD should be encouraged to reduce spending on high quality, glossy color prints." Total savings from toning down Pentagon copies? An estimated $180 million saved by 2016—barely enough to buy one-fifth of the US Tomahawk missiles launched at Libya so far.
The Pentagon copier cuts also pale in comparison with some of West's favored spending priorities. Two weeks before announcing his war on color copies, West secured a $21 million federal grant to expand the runways at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, in his home district. The controversial project, called "monstrous" by its critics, is expected to cost $791 million before its 2014 completion, more than quadruple the savings of West's proposed defense printing cut. His military savings plan also pales in comparison to the revenue he helped secure for a private contractor, Military Professional Resources Inc., when he trained Afghan soldiers and police officers after his Army retirement. MPRI recently won a contract to continue that work through the end of 2011, worth $156 million contract for this year alone.
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