The Pentagon’s $125 Billion Cover-up

The Pentagon’s $125 Billion Cover-up

Let’s say you ask somebody a question. They give you an answer you don’t like, so you pretend you didn’t hear it. Probably all of us would cop to something like this at some time in our imperfect pasts. For most of us though, that pretending hasn’t included...
Uncle Sam Needs a Better Handle on Your Money

Uncle Sam Needs a Better Handle on Your Money

A decade ago, thousands of California National Guard troops reenlisted to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. For valiantly responding to a shortage of troops, they were promised a signing bonus. This October, the Pentagon ordered these thousands of veterans to pay back...
Torching the Truth

Torching the Truth

America’s military adventures — and, just as often, its misadventures — have inspired thousands upon thousands of books. But the military isn’t just in the business of inspiring books: Sometimes it bans them, too. The Pentagon recently announced that it was refusing...
Mission Essential

Mission Essential

It’s getting easier to find people inside Washington’s Beltway who want to cut the fat from the Pentagon budget. Scaling back military spending isn’t just for the most progressive members of Congress anymore. Even the tea-partying Sen. Rand Paul...
The Interior Secretary’s Gilded Throne

The Interior Secretary’s Gilded Throne

Does the name Dirk Kempthorne mean anything to you? He was a little-known Idaho politico before becoming George W. Bush’s industry-coddling secretary of the interior in 2006. While Dirk was not big on protecting our nation’s public lands and natural...