Lying to Tillman's mother....

The military and the US government completely failed Pat Tillman and his family.

After giving up a lucrative NFL career and joining the military, Tillman is gunned down in 2004 by friendly fire. As if this was not bad enough, the Army, violating it's own protocols, refused to admit to the cause of Tillman's death when it happened, and also lied about it to his family at his memorial service. McCain was present there for a photo-op but was apparently too busy to provide this family with any assistance in getting to the truth and having it made public.

This is outrageous treatment of the memory of a US soldier and the family and life he left behind.

It's a shame that someone like Dick Cheney, who lately has so many comments to make about so many things, could not have focused his swarm of contacts to get this resolved for this family. 5 years is too long to wait have the truth of the matter acknowledged.

And then there are the military contractors...

"The Navy - which is in charge of overseeing the helicopter program - reported to Congress in January that its price tag had nearly doubled. That notification triggered a formal process mandating the program be re-certified as a national security requirement by senior Pentagon leadership.

The Navy waited nearly a year before formally disclosing the information to lawmakers as it sought to find ways to keep the program within budget. Those efforts failed."

McCain questions Obama about helicopter at summit.

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So, the Navy finally tells Congress last month that they can't deliver the product they were selected (and have been getting paid), to deliver unless they get paid nearly double the AGREED upon price. Instead, they want to re-certify, meaning reconfigure, the nature of the contract to suit the fact that they are failing to deliver.

And how funny that McCain is questioning the cost overruns. The Navy has been playing fast and loose with this program for over a year. Did McCain discuss this issue during his campaign? Did he have that disbelieving little look on his face over this billion+ dollar contract that was already out of control? I don't remember hearing about it. Did he ask George or Dick about it? Not sure.

This government procurement process is so out of control you'd think it was Wall Street. Apparently the Navy has had the same misconception - that American taxpayers are just sitting around waiting to throw away money - as Congress has of us.

This is FRAUD and nothing less and no penalty for doing so. Why is Lockheed-Martin not required to pay a hefty fine for every single day they don't deliver? Where is the accountability? Why is there even a contracting process when no one follows it anyway?

This system needs a major overhaul. Government contracting does not work if contracts are not honored.