Putting Drunken Sailors to Shame

Here're a few examples of events that have transpired in Iraq, courtesy of U.S. government efficiency:

DynCorp was paid $43.8 million for building and storing a residential camp that was never used, including $4.2 million on VIP trailers and an Olympic-sized swimming pool that were not authorized.

Parsons Global received a contract in 2004 to construct 150 primary health care centers at a cost of $243 million. After $186 million had been spent, only six centers were complete. The contract was terminated, with the contractor required to complete only 14 more.

Bechtel lost its contract for the Basrah Children's Hospital when a $50 million project had reached a cost of $98 million and was about a year behind schedule.

I'm sure one could write a whole book listing nothing but stories like these. The silver lining is that all this blown money came straight out of the taxpayers' pockets. Isn't it comforting that Uncle Scam is putting our funds toward nonsense like this, when it would serve us better as kindling at the hearth? The people involved in such colossal waste should hang their heads in shame. It's criminal, and it's the kind of behavior that would land each of us in jail, if we put it into practice. Of course, when you have a limitless monetary supply, there's no such thing as living beyond your means.

(references taken from John Duncan's Washington Report)