'Let Me Read You The Relevant Sentence': John Kennedy Grills General In Senate Hearing

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned military officials about the work of the Army Corps of Engineers.
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[@mikegreene3048]

I am a retired concrete finisher and have worked on government jobs and the waste and mismanagement of funds and plain theft was mind boggling!

[@skaph8393]

I was in the engineers for 6 and half years and yes they steal everything and the kitchen sink even if bolted down. Black market is real bad when I was stationed in Germany and this was by a lot of the NCOs.

[@Chris_at_Home]

I’m a retired communications tech and 25 years ago I worked on a government contract and I never have seen so much waste and incompetence in my life. After two years I went back to work in the civilian sector where sane people were in control.

[@samyazaazazyel7701]

10,000 for hammer doors built with cheap doors instead of solid doors.Then abandoned projects lmao

[@dcsj6837]

I spent 21 years in the military and believe me, the waste is unbelievable. We would get to the end of the fiscal year and would be ENCOURAGED to waste things just so we could buy more before the budget was expended. The working theory was that "if we don't use it up this year, we will not get more next year". This is how it works in all of government and it's ridiculous. There is no incentive for actually being responsible for saving resources. It's not real money. There's no end to it. That's how it goes.

[@bilindamueller3154]

It's a SLUSH FUND FOR DEMONRATS

[@elmalo5851]

These money laundering schemes are remarkable! Within our military, contractors, foreign aid...

[@mynameisnobodysometimeseve7653]

Disgustingly remarkable.

[@trentp151]

The entire US Federal government is one big grifting and money laundering scheme. I wish people would wake up and realize that they aren't there for our benefit.

[@halielouya453]

Nothing more inept than a Republican in Congress, for over a decade they said the Clintons would be brought to Justice. If you listen real hard you can still hear Hillary and Hunter laughing!!! Everyone knows your Republicunt will cave on the debt ceiling, Wall Street's and the big banks boot lickers!!! Where is Tucker???

[@FUBARandU]

And politicians

[@elmalo5851]

@@mynameisnobodysometimeseve7653 our Government Supply Contractors are the worst in ripping off the Military.

[@MCLIcpfan000]

The Mississippi River will always have its own way no engineer can persuade it otherwise -Mark Twain.

[@perryrush6563]

My other favorite quote about the MS River is In the space of one hundred and seventy-six years the Lower Mississippi has shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. That is an average of a trifle over one mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oolitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago next November, the Lower Mississippi River was upwards of one million three hundred thousand miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing-rod. And by the same token any person can see that seven hundred and forty-two years from now the Lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three-quarters long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together, and be plodding comfortably along under a single mayor and a mutual board of aldermen. There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. - Life on the Mississippi

[@glennrishton5679]

@@perryrush6563 I read that decades ago and it has always stuck with me but I have been unable to remember what work of Twains that was from.

[@deep5811]

Yep!

[@cristinakarlin5589]

Water will do that in great amounts.

[@richardspencer1682]

YEP!!!...and the SUN is what changes the climate, as it has for all the eons our planet has been in existence. IMO.

[@deep5811]

Stop giving these people immunity before they testify.

[@danielboone6631]

As a contractor, I would like to do a job for him personally. Then while working on it tell him the cost is going to triple. When he asks why, I would say "That's something we've got to get better on."

[@purgethis1157]

and they would wring their hands, ask for some quantifiable info and as long as you could come up with something close to viable, they'd pay it.

[@rayburnyarborough4695]

A prime example of this type of fiasco is the pedestrian bridge built over the Cumberland River in Nashville. Halfway across the contractor ran out of money. The solution always is: well let’s throw a little more money at it and the peons can pay for it.

[@Theresa1057]

I love it

[@Theresa1057]

As a hairstylist I could imagine me saying that to one of my clients lol it’s something I need to get better at! Lol I remember working and my coworker was doing a straight razor shave in a military man, she cut is head really bad, she said I’ll give you few haircuts for a year and he came back the next week but I had to let her go the day she did that, for one cosmetologist are not allowed to use a strait razor, another example is about 40 years ago a co worker cut a guys ear really bad so what does the owner of the franchise do? They sent her to rehab and she had only been an employee for 2 months! I can imagine saying that to a judge we have to get better at not cutting people skin

[@arthurhelms9824]

@@purgethis1157boy shit, change orders aren’t always approved especially when it’s due to an inability to do the math upfront.

[@smexijebus]

They will always be able to tell you, down the last cent, the amount of money they 'saved' you, but they'll never in a billion years give an accurate accounting of how much their programs will cost.

[@perryrush6563]

We take the cost of the project and then multiply by a factor of X to make sure it is reported to be far higher Than the cost of the project. We start out at a minimum of 50 for X.

[@AnarchyisFreedom]

The savings is a lie. It assumes that people would not change a thing. That they would rebuild in the exact same manner and allow themselves to get wiped out again. It assumes that no other group would take action to make a difference. It assumes that the ACOE is the only agent of change.

[@halielouya453]

Nothing more inept than a Republican in Congress, for over a decade they said the Clintons would be brought to Justice. If you listen real hard you can still hear Hillary and Hunter laughing!!! Everyone knows your Republicunt will cave on the debt ceiling, Wall Street's and the big banks boot lickers!!! Where is Tucker???

[@retiredmusiceducator3612]

or exactly how they spent the money - in detail!

[@easter_sunday]

Truer words never spoken.

[@curtisbrown5939]

It literally makes me afraid when I hear someone from the government say "let's be clear"

[@80cardcolumn]

or "it's for public safety."

[@curtisbrown5939]

@@80cardcolumn pubic safety 🤨

[@assyholey4224]

we are here to help.

[@BB-gr9hq]

When you hear "It's for the Children" you are about to lose some freedoms, get fleeced, or both.

[@jimhicks2976]

Yep let’s be clear means here’s mud in your eye.

[@RedHorse-hm9yk]

I have never seen the uniform more disgraced by the people in them than I see from the leaders these days, in my lifetime.

[@partain2000]

The military leaders, yes I agree.

[@atticuswalker8970]

People who support fascist leaders have never liked the us military.

[@crxdelsolsir]

Because external powers have corrupted the top echelons of various key departments. They have come out now and when the enemy reveals themselves they are confident on winning. So America is in trouble now the enemy has revealed itself. End game has begun.

[@stevemt3238]

"It's a great question" that I'm not going to answer.

[@martinburns7928]

Hey ! i haven't had questions i hadn't answered that were asked of me in answer to that question that i refuse to answer!

[@UnitSe7en]

Ah, the Maz Kanata defense. "A great question... For another time."

[@richardspencer1682]

The witness has a frozen matrix

[@stevemt3238]

@@richardspencer1682 ... of lies and deception.

[@jamesp739]

As a general rule, when the government publishes a cost/benefit estimate, double the cost and cut the benefit in half and you might be close.

[@purgethis1157]

The government doesn't do CBA's to evaluate, they do them to justify their desired outcome. fact.

[@ucesfossil6188]

California's High Speed Rail: Hold my Bud Light.

[@dasteelerfan1]

Triple the cost

[@bobbycorrigan7969]

Great job once again Senator Kennedy, 👍🇺🇸🙏

[@Henry-go7gi]

Yes

[@clivenewman4810]

Wish we had politicians in England who hold people to account & call them out when they are lying or talking bollocks.

[@DMBall]

"How was this compiled?" "At the last Christmas party."

[@JeromeGardiner]

Joe Biden worked this out while studying Mandarin on air force one.

[@Nyleah-G]

​@@JeromeGardiner 😂

[@rayburnyarborough4695]

Are you referring to the numerous Christmas parties they have so they can spend any remaining money allotted in the budget. Having to cut the next year’s budget would be a tragedy.

[@TheBugkillah]

If anyone knows anything about the army corp of engineers, it’s where colonels go to retire. They don’t do anything, they spend the last year or so, because they’re not promotable to general, pushing paper until they can collect retirement.

[@jamesmcd71]

I live on the Gulf coast. We have been trying to take an old two lane road and widen it to 4 lanes from I10 down to US 90. It's only been 7 years, the city has spent 16 million, and the state has spent 9 million. 4 environmental impact studies have been completed. Then, the Biden Infrastructure bill happened. Now, the fed DOT & the army Corp of engineers have taken over the project. The federal government puts 22 million into the project. Just weeks ago the DOT said this project was canceled because the state was unable to spend the additional 47 million required to complete the project. At this point, no actual work has been done on the road. 10 years 47 million spent now the Gov wants another 47 million to widen a 7 mile road. Every thought the project was paid in full all 25 million before the Gov took over.

[@toomanyhobbies2011]

It's simple diversion of taxpayer funds to the bureaucracy, then back to the people who allocated those funds. They get rich and do whatever they want without repercussions.

[@glennrishton5679]

Sounds a lot like Biloxi....

[@SGLV1]

The misappropriation of funds is staggering!

[@jamesmcd71]

@Glenn Rishton Close, about 10 miles west in Long Beach.

[@glennrishton5679]

@@jamesmcd71 Hi Neighbor I'm in Gulfport.

[@pyrolight7568]

The speed at which he dodged the question was impressive.

[@halielouya453]

Nothing more inept than a Republican in Congress, for over a decade they said the Clintons would be brought to Justice. If you listen real hard you can still hear Hillary and Hunter laughing!!! Everyone knows your Republicunt will cave on the debt ceiling, Wall Street's and the big banks boot lickers!!! Where is Tucker???

[@bobdayton9608]

Probably one of hussein's boys.

[@jamesrobbins26]

He's good ain't he.

[@228justaround]

I work in commercial construction on many military facility projects. The core of engineers is by far the most costly & least efficient group to work beside.

[@williamgibb5557]

On the job training in relation to cost overruns! It is a government organization afterall.

[@rachelbaziak4159]

Unfortunately I agree.

[@colinadendorff4495]

Sure you do. You blame USACE for the cost when actually the acquisition vehicle is a design build. That is a contract where YOU set the price. Not USACE.

[@RonSafreed]

This is pure insanity!!

[@purgethis1157]

@@colinadendorff4495 Save your BS, the COE tacks on 15% right off the top just to pretend to oversee the work.

[@vernonharris1495]

In a nut shell here’s how the government works. All departments have a budget. At the end of each year, for the government it’s October to October, if each department doesn’t use up their entire budget it gets cut. So every department makes it a point to use up all of their budget each year so they don’t lose any funding. I know a guy that works on fort Gordon in Georgia in a maintenance capacity. Every October if his department is running under budget him and his coworkers have to go in and just sit on their butts and burn up time on the clock to eat up the remaining funds. He has seen tractor trailer loads of computer paper come onto the base and are taken straight to the landfill and dumped just to use up some departments budget. Old barracks that were slated to be torn down would be repainted and land scaped just because a high ranking officer was coming on base for a visit. My friend had countless stories of waste that he saw while working at fort Gordon. The government doesn’t need anymore taxpayer dollars, they need to cut out all of the waste. That’s it, I can’t think about it anymore. I need a beer.

[@Lindyrect]

I can 100 % verify this. In the Military we had Operational Target funds aka (OPTAR). If we did not spend it, the following year our budget would be cut. So as the end of the fiscal year came close, we would dream up of all kinds of unnecessary things to burn funds on. What the Government should be doing is incentivizing units that come out under budget.

[@HeroicSheperd]

Budgetary surplus adjustments shouldn’t happen though because you cannot always accurately predict year in cost needs. Take for example State DoT needs in New York. Every year they have a budget specifically allocated for snow plow and snow removal. Now, let’s say 2018 New York had an unusually dry winter with little to no snowfall resulting in huge underspending in plow usage, driver pay, salt, sand, etc….. should the following years have that budget suspended with the surplus difference? The same can be said of military usage comparing peace time to times of conflict. Army corps of engineers in years with little activity to those with a lot of natural disasters, flood, hurricane, tornado, etc….. budgets must be evaluated every year, that’s a given and I’m not disagreeing the military has its share of blatant wasteful spending, I’m very familiar with that aspect. However, these organizations do have a budget they need to remain consistent and surplus suspension is not an accurate measurement to come up with that budget.

[@daveschif348]

I have a friend who worked for IRS. As a way of burning through budget $$$, they would arrange for employees on East coast going to a big meeting on West coast. In reverse....employees on West coast would be required to attend meeting on East coast. Airfare and expenses give hotels.

[@stacase]

Exactly! This goes on in every military command there is. "Make sure you spend every cent of your allocated budget by the end of the fiscal year. Because if you don't, you won't get that much next year."

[@mmartin6841]

This is so wasteful. Regular people can't do this! We have to work and pay our bills! We need to take away the government's endless credit card!

[@brendalaveine7756]

Senator Kennedy you are a jewel and a Blessing to America. Shalom to you for the truth.

[@judhudon6235]

Just imagine a United States Senate with 100 senators of the calibre of Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. Oh, what a wonderful government we would have!

[@daviddobson1113]

Lmao I remember a time when projects would come under estimated cost but we sure have not seen that for a long time. The simple answer to many fingers in the pie. Lord knows we have to much corruption and a lot of people in government have truly forgotten just who they work for.

[@windrider65]

Or how to work at all.

[@purgethis1157]

Most of them view it as an entitlement.

[@23ravensby98]

You ain’t kidding. They invent jobs and regulations and agencies and so on… and every one needs its fees.

[@daviddobson1113]

@@23ravensby98 I am an old man almost 70 and when I was a young man you bid a job you were held to that bid even if you lost money. When I was in the military I watch uncle Sam even back then pay triple for the stupidest shit like a mop handle it didn't take long for one to figure out some one in DC had the finger in that pie lol. They need to put a stop to the waist and abuse that goes on today in our government it is out of control.

[@terrygoodman5980]

Hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable, and prosecute them!

[@MR-fq4zv]

I will have to get back to you - No one has asked us about the use of funds since 1928. No one audits our spending on any of our projects.

[@skitzdaniel3314]

What happens if you just don't allow people to develop those lands for living or commerce and don't move in. Move everyone out, turn it into a nature preserve or whatever, and save the 2.7 trillion dollars.

[@marshyburrows1094]

There is absolutely NO COMMON SENSE applied in these projects and/or the awarding of contracts for them. I have worked with the Corps for 30 years as a contractor. Absolute incompetence in everything they do.

[@RohxAirsoft]

Yup, you should read my comments I posted about the Core and there "efforts" on Rough River Lake. 😡

[@ninaappelt9001]

And just run amok.

[@johnbeyer2211]

Bring in Trump to renegotiate the costs. I'll bet they finish the project in half the time and half the cost.

[@connieeddy178]

AMEN!!!

[@weshervey2202]

They could start by buying projectors for congress, I don’t know how many billboards I’ve seen every day with tweets and other hoo ha 😂😂

[@mmartin6841]

Read The Art of the Deal which is a book about Trump. Trump is a genius!

[@connieeddy178]

@@mmartin6841 Yes he is.

[@julienhenri7296]

Im not even from nor live in the us, But it pisses me off seeing way to often these people saying we dont have the answers for you right now but will get back to you. What is the point of these if the can get away with that? How much does it cost tax payers for one of the sessions to give zero answers?

[@carolv8450]

These ppl make money, in the thousands - nothing gets done, they still get paid. They are govt.

[@Lee-iz3vb]

Kenny is a national hero. He's like the Senate's version of Colombo. Love it

[@ksagstertohi6156]

Who is Kenny?

[@Head-ck4hu]

I live in Georgia. The lakes that are run by the Corps. suck. Those run by Georgia Power Company are some of the greatest lakes in the country.

[@cheez71]

Only proves out once again the statement that government does not and cannot produce anything of value. It only destroys and wastes.

[@90000cg]

Suuuurrrreee

[@morganottlii2390]

You better have your ducks in a row when Sen. Kennedy complements you before he asks a question! Like a good lawyer, he already knows the answer.👍

[@cobrakaineverdies4589]

One day I’d like to see something USEFUL not only discussed, but actually solved. Effin useless government

[@authorcharlieboring]

Great question. The Corp needs to do its job in answering that.

[@grandmaoldschool7011]

Since 1928?

[@HoldenMcG]

'Fuzzy math,' which can be shifted in any direction, makes for great/large bureaucracy.

[@johnprendergast1338]

How about the New Orleans levee system ...?

[@90000cg]

What about it.

[@johnprendergast1338]

@@90000cg The levee system is sinking and requires constant maintenance which the Corp is responsible for...

[@bernadinedavenport2132]

Get better...what does that statement mean 🇺🇸🔥🇺🇸

[@commoncentsamerican]

ALL TALK NO ACTION

[@freespirit922]

"WE NEED TO DO BETTER".....

[@ghostly51]

Big promises with small results fixed by never ending big expenditures with bigger promises to make smaller mistakes next time. We are going broke by billions of small mistakes. Maddening

[@user-pw9lj8tq5g]

Make HIM read it !!

[@newyorkheart]

Great point by Kennedy. Absolutely brilliant way to approach the point. Really hammers home the absurdity the claim the General makes about their internal procedures.

[@klars3207]

We need a bigger budget. We're the government, you can trust us.

[@rayray9571]

In the old days they always finished projects faster and under budget. I don't know what's going on nowadays

[@michaelwalters7513]

Just get the price down , big time now , do it !

[@crlheureux]

How much have they caused? I bet more than they saved. Plus paying $1000 for a shovel no one will use.

[@Paulco67]

We need 100 John Kennedys in the Senate

[@saifonlawrence2044]

Good work Forbes News...my go to news since im done now with Fox.

[@sharonbruno7873]

Hey general, if it was your money you would make sure it was spent better. How much went in your pocket?

[@mobelue]

One man speaking facetiously; one taking him seriously of the $2.7 trillion fallacy.

[@philmccabe9547]

If the Old River Control Structure fails then that will be a very conservative estimate in economic damage. Instant depression for the USA and the world...

[@JanetPendley-sy9yn]

Unaccountability of tax dollars,just ambiguous answers.

[@Nahash5150]

This is government 101. If your 'expenses' come down, your budget gets cut. So you ALWAYS spend more than you have and project more than you need.

[@grrrlbreaker]

Generals have NO business with having an online presence. Period.

[@kerrilammert1103]

I live 1/2 mile from Mississippi River in Mo. Every year from rain fall up North, flooding comes. Many levies been made, made towns flood worst. The mighty river will flow, it's nature.

[@kellyrogers1765]

We have to get better at our cost estimates ‼️ Seriously that's your answer

[@loriredding2052]

Senator kennedy is the best!! He always gets them stupified!!

[@joeh.3135]

The printing presses are old and worn with production expectations soaring it's obvious the only more effective option is digital , until the electricity is turned off .

[@thebikeracer]

The general just described how Congress money launders tax money from us.

[@jop4691]

Army Corps of Engineers is great outfit. Can't speak for their command staff, but their "grunts" are awesome and really do great work keeping our waterways navigable

[@90000cg]

The engineers are good but they have not control. It should be called corps of environmentalists

[@lavrentichudakoff2519]

If you don't want to get flooded don't live on the water and low lying areas.

[@aceman1969nlb]

ROCK ON KENNEDY!!👍👍

[@pappydaddy7447]

Sen. Kennedy is comparing two completely different types of estimates.

[@stephenflowers8516]

You know all these medals, Stars on the shoulders etc used to impress me. But then Vindman came along and they are now meaningless.

[@glennrishton5679]

I made a comment recently somewhere about our military "leaders' I pointed out that in September 1941 Dwight D Eisenhower was promoted to Brigadier General but by 1945 he was General of the Army. Eisenhower did a pretty damn good job in leading the defeat of the Axis in North Africa and Europe. Perhaps it is time to find some bright Colonels/ Brigadier Generals and fire these star studded politicians.

[@Jonascord]

@@glennrishton5679 Clinton, Bush, Obama spent a lot of time and effort finding politically reliable military staff, and RIFing out the ones who took the Oath seriously. You want to throw them out?

[@dianabias3024]

GO KENNEDY GO U ARE ONE OF THE BEST IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 🇺🇸 AMEN AN GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY 👪 🙏 ❤🤍💙

[@martinburns7928]

Hey! i haven't had questions asked of me that i hadn't answered in answer of that question that i refuse to answer!

[@lynnelovett8999]

Absolutely 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯 correct Sen. Kennedy. Thank you for the TRUTH.

[@fredericksharon7494]

Thanks

[@donnburge9774]

Researching them here in Alaska more environmental issues due to their work as with flooding and lakes running low, interesting subject matter

[@stevechancey167]

Legend!

[@cigarmerchant2238]

Love how even when Senator Kennedy gets something wrong, he gets it right and finally a General who knows what he is talking about and has a genuine interest in doing the right thing by the American people.

[@OG-GHOST2]

I have a question for my political so called leaders...I served in afghanistan 08-09 for 15 long exruciating months. I left my 7 day old son wanting to serve my country and fellow man. I was married with 2 kids and went through basic TRAINING and something called AIT advanced indavidual training. I ended up being the sole honor graduate in 60 some students due to physical athleticism and academic achievement. My speciality was carpententry and mason specialist that fell under the US ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS. I got to meet and work alongside several civilian federal contractors who had little to no experiance never went to basic or AIT and overall they had no special redeeming qualities at all. They simply applied for the job online right? So when i found out my civilian counterpart was making over 100k a year staying in nice air conditioned extra fortifed rooms not having to deal with half the nonsense soldiers did. Here i am as a soldier barely clearing 30k a year. Also civilians would get 3 vacations a year to fly baxk to america to see their familys. Soldiers got one. Now i could just gripe about the pay issue and consider the extreme disparitys but whats more valid is if whoever was overseeing the mission at hand wantee to do the mission as cost effective as possible why were we told to stand down on jobs just so that civilian would have something to write on his job sheet? To think if you have a job and you havw a more qualified better trained armed soldier to do a job for 30k a year but instead you pay someone whos not even been to boot camp 100k a year? Ive been asking this for years and i was just a grunt. I know the brass in the army also had to see this and say nothing but they should. I just simply want to know why?

[@UnitSe7en]

Optics. ...Oh, and feefees.

[@OG-GHOST2]

Wow! I'm shocked this is visible haha I've posted this maybe 10 or so times over the last 10 years and it normally cannot even be seen by anyone. I guess there is so much talk now they figure why bother silencing this veteran anymore haha

[@wilsdeb]

Pointing out Waste of Tax Monies by the Numb

[@petersciacca9474]

These hearings are a waste of time and money

[@atticuswalker8970]

Any bid from private contractors should require public disclosure of accounts .

[@3coins.]

What about Louisiana? Thank you Senator.

[@user-vq9kn2ix4n]

It would appear that THIS individual is somehow COMPLISANT with this out-of-control misappropriation, either indirectly or directly!!😮

[@timcunningham6932]

Army corps of engineers does a good job!

[@jgesselberty]

The Army Corps of Engineers is a joke. I was president of our Homeowner's Association and we wanted to put a simple mulch path through a common area, so that our members could reach a small pond for fishing. The Corps threatened us with fines and individual fines on every homeowner bordering the area of the pond. They said it was a protected wetlands. And, the following year, hundreds of acres of wetlands just down the road were suddenly drained and shopping areas were built. Wonder who got paid off for that?

[@cobussmith8864]

Grill him Senator!

[@RohxAirsoft]

The ACoE is currently working on our lake in Kentucky and have dropped the summer fill by about 5ft.....which has effectively removed dock access for 60% of the homes. They said it may take 10 years or longer before they fix the problem at the dam to raise the levels back..... they have likely destroyed virtually all the property values for the homes surrounding that lake. Who wants to own a lake home with no dock for 10+ years and good luck selling said property. 😡

[@jimzimmerman5288]

Typical government contracts always exceed the beginning cost.

[@chipsrafferty8362]

Good job on the Everglades there General.

[@mmartin6841]

And BOOM they had $500,000,000 just like that. Americans deserve transparency on all expenditures!

[@JWPeace_4MyBoys]

I AM SORRY THAT THEY HAVE DISRESPECTED YOU SIR!!

[@bernadinedavenport2132]

Unexcusable!!! Let's look at Mississippi River now...

[@b_uppy]

On the subject of managing water for loss prevention, frequent rainwater harvesting catchments made from onsite materials mitigate flooding, droughts, heatwaves, slides, desertification, ground subsidence, wildfires, etc. We nwed people to do the research and learn to make the bunds, swales, bioswales, checkdams, keylining, etc Getting away from conventional ag practives makes a difference as well. Monocropping; annual crops; tilling/fallow/plowing; synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers; overgrazing and graining or grain finishing (in the case of poultry only allowing premixed feed) all contribute to the death of soil and subsequent flooding, soil loss, soil carbon loss, etc.

[@whollymindless]

This guy seems way more competent than Mayorkas.

[@criticalmass613]

Remember when the US military was once respected and revered?

[@90000cg]

Affirmative action, woke ideology and environmentalists killed it.

[@tommywingate2220]

When I asked why the jet fuel was being dumped near the end of a USN cruise I was told about how the military budget was a factor. My first ray of reality.

[@marieabineau]

thats one way to keep your job...overstate your importance...

[@RJ-lj3zt]

Spend 25 million on design and surveys, for a 22 million dollar job

[@thomasjacques5286]

I'm from the government and here to help.....

[@richardlandis793]

Not to worry. There are politicians who have MONEY TREES growing in their backyards. 😅😅😅😅

[@brandonkeenan2625]

Until there is accountability, this is all theatre

[@markfinley4722]

Just spend our money, or should I say, line your pockets with our money!

[@carltyndall5302]

When there are such massive over runs ask one simple question...."WHO IS GETTING RICH ON THIS PROJECT?"

[@troypatterson4861]

Construction projects never go as planned . Even with an expensive exploratory, digging and drilling.

[@davidturk6170]

Remember USACE cannot spend what congress does not fund (with a few monitor maintenance items). And the list of projects USACE works is generated with a sponsoring congressman/woman.

[@ninaappelt9001]

How many times has the Mississippi flooded since 1952. A bunch, I bet.

[@brownro214]

I'd say LTG Spellmon has a better handle on what his department is doing than most other US Army generals though he doesn't have all the answers. His staff definitely needs to explain why a project cost went up $500 million in taxpayer money. An interesting item for casual observers: LTG Spellmon is wearing Engineer branch insignia on his lapels (the badge that looks like a castle). Other generals wear no branch insignia. The Chief of Engineers, as I recall, is the only general officer to do so.

[@Slcm02]

Regulations, incompetence to resolve issues quickly, relentless changes in design and slow pay to contractors is your biggest problem

[@martyblack7245]

What I know about Army Engineering Corps. Is there was a section of border wall they spent years studying & said that the wall could not be built there it was impossible. A private company did it in less than a year, with a service road included. I live in East Tn. There is a lake here that was losing water they couldn’t figure out how to fix it. The Corp. spent 10yrs on it & didn’t fix it. A college from out west came in & figured it out in less than 6months. I think it is a way to hid funds if you ask me