Barack Obama attacked the defense industry Wednesday, telling contractors that cost overruns and delays which were “acceptable” during the previous administration would no longer be accepted, citing overruns which cost federal funds billions of dollars in the past years.

President Obama called his administration the “end of fiscal irresponsibility,” citing plans to increase transparency, accountability and reducing waste on political and government contracts, which he implicitly blamed the Bush administration for harbouring.

The Pentagon, many sources say, is Obama’s current focus for overruns with a budget of $330 billion per year. This follows last year’s report by the Government Accountability Office that 95 major Defense Department contracts were overbudget, totaling just under $300 billion.

“In this time of great challenges, I recognize the real choice between investments that are designed to keep the American people safe and those that are designed to make a defense contractor rich,” said the President, “far too often, the spending is plagued by massive cost overruns, outright fraud, and the absence of oversight and accountability,” he continued.

“It’s time to end the extra costs and long delays that are all too common in our defense contracting. We need to invest in technologies that are proven and cost-effective. We need more competition for contracts and more oversight as they’re carried out. If a system isn’t ready to be developed, we shouldn’t pour resources into it. And if a system is plagued by cost overruns, it should be reformed. No more excuses, no more delays. The days of giving defense contractors a blank check are over.”

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