GAO: DADT Cost Nearly $200 Million Over Last Five Years

Congressional Republicans are quick to whine over wasteful spending - except, of course when it involves pork for their own districts or pandering to the Christianists of the GOP base. Then squandering money is not a problem and no amount of waste matters. Sadly, it's typical of the GOP's hypocrisy - and of far to many blue dog Democrats. A new GAO report demonstrates a case in point: DADT, which serves no purpose other than to appease Christofascists and write religious based discrimination into the law so that religious bigots can cite the laws as confirmation of the righteousness of their bigotry, cost over $200 million over the last five years. The chart below gives a breakdown. Imagine what positive things could have been done with that amount of money. A piece at Huffington Post looks at the religious motivated waste of monies better used elsewhere. And that price tag doesn't include the human cost of ruined careers and dashed dreams. Here are some highlights:
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The military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which is set to be rolled back in the coming months, expelled 3,664 service members between 2004 and 2009, costing U.S. taxpayers roughly $193.3 million, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
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Of that money, $185.6 million was in replacement costs -- money spent to recruit and train replacements for the gay and lesbian service members fired under DADT -- and $7.7 million in administrative costs.
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That means the average expulsion under DADT cost taxpayers $52,800, partly because a significant number of those discharged held a "critical occupation or important language skill," the GAO reported.
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As Igor Volsky noted at The Wonk Room, these costs are just the tip of the iceberg, since DADT has been U.S. law since 1994. Although President Barack Obama signed a repeal of DADT into law on Dec. 22, gay men and women are not yet encouraged to come out or to enlist; the policy remains on the books.
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Thus, the next Republican who supports retaining DADT needs to be confronted about the cost and forced to admit that only religious bigotry justifies DADT. And that is something barred by the U. S. Constitution.