The Department of Defense wants its budget for classified, or “black” programs to swell to $30.1 billion, according to a recent analysis by a Washington, D.C. policy shop specializing in defense budgets.
The Center for Security and Budgetary Assessments found that the classified acquisitions requested by the Pentagon for 2007 are double what they were in 1995. And while the Pentagon’s budget to buy unclassified toys has grown also, its budget for “secret” equipment and operations has grown much faster.
Why is this important? The “black” contracting arena is where much of the current earmark abuse has taken place. Admitted and alleged bribers like Mitchell Wade and Brent “Boom Shaka Laka” Wilkes built companies on secret contracts awarded away from the public eye.
