Posted on 12/20/2013 11:34:09 AM PST by jazusamo
Wasteful spending by the bloated U.S. government is at an all-time high and a new congressional report outlines the senseless projects—including a global warming cartoon series—that the Obama administration blew nearly $30 billion on in 2013.
Published by a U.S. Senator who sits on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the report ( “Wastebook 2013”) provides 100 shameful examples of how the government squanders our tax dollars. This includes an astounding $7 billion to destroy perfectly good military equipment and vehicles in the Middle East to avoid bringing it back, $379 million to promote Obamacare and $65 million in Hurricane Sandy “emergency” funds on television ads.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spent $3 million on a ridiculous research mission that will study how Congress works and an additional $390,000 on a cartoon series that teaches children about global warming. A press release announcing the wastebook sarcastically says that NASA won’t be exploring an alien planet or distant galaxy, but rather one of the greatest mysteries in the universe—how Congress works. It also pokes fun at the cartoon, saying that since NASA is no longer conducting space flights, the agency has plenty of time and money to fund the series.
In yet another egregious example of waste, the government doled out $3.5 million to install solar panels that are largely unused at an airport in New Hampshire. Immediately after the panels were installed, air traffic controllers determined that the glare blinded them as well as pilots. This made it difficult to oversee the runways so a chunk of the panels sit covered with a tarp in the airport’s parking garage.
Here are a few more good ones mentioned in the report; a federal agency called the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) dedicated nearly $1 million to explore romance in novels, films, songs and comics and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $325,525 to research if marriage is more satisfying for wives who calm down faster after arguments with their husband. As if all this weren’t bad enough, the Wastebook reveals that the Islamic terrorist who carried out the Fort Hood massacre collected $52,952 in government pay in 2013.
“While politicians in Washington spent much of 2013 complaining about sequestration’s impact on domestic programs and our national defense, we still managed to provide benefits to the Fort Hood shooter, study romance novels, help the State Department buy Facebook fans and even help NASA study Congress,” said Tom Coburn, the U.S. Senator from Oklahoma who released the scathing report. “Had Congress, in particular, been focused on doing its job of setting priorities and cutting the kind of wasteful spending outlined in this report, we could have avoided both a government shutdown and a flawed budget deal that was designed to avert a shutdown.”
Over 60% of our $3.5 Trillion budget is entitlements. Sounds like a lot more waste than $30 Billion.
To be fair this includes chairs, tents, buildings, washing machines, obsolete vehicles, and anything else you can think of where it would cost more to transport it back than it is worth.
Why don’t they just give every citizen $100,000? It would be better spent.
Likely 100X more waste is committed than this report reflects.
There’s little doubt you’re both correct.
If the U.S. gov’t wasted only $30 Billion, we’d be in good shape.
Paul Ryan and Patty Murray announced another new budget deal today. All disabled Veterans must immediately turn in their prosthetic devices so they can be sold to give more money to the Democrat base.
“We see this as being very beneficial to the Veterans,” Ryan said. “Think of how happy the Veterans will be as they see the Democrat base selling the Veterans metal arms and legs to buy beer.”
“It’s a real win-win situation,” chimed in Murray. “I win by getting more cash in my bank account and the Democrat base wins by getting to gloat about how they screwed crippled people.”
Quit watching pennies and attack the big dollar items. With a 17 trillion dollar debt, 30 billion is chicken feed and keeps people from looking at the real problem. Too much government, too big a government, a government spending like there is no tomorrow, and soon there may not be, and controlled by idiots in power who love it that way.
All them free-phoners should be really pizzed.
$30BUS sounds like a lowball estimate to me.
If you are complaining, like Paul Ryan, how about looking at the transfer of wealth from tax payers by the 'Great Society'. Near as I can tell, after 50 years, the total exceeds 7 trillion dollars of working, tax payers money.
only thing to do is avoid tax....the ultra rich do it...we need professionals to teach us every little legit scam available....its our patriotic duty to dry up the well...
maybe x10
The PTC for wind generators make that number very small.
Microscopic if you look at the impact to grid reliability.
$30 billion is a tip of a really large iceberg
I have also paid these taxes for nearly forty years. But they are taxes, not investments. And LEGALLY, the courts have decided that the programs owe me nothing. Because taxing citizens is legal, and doesn't obligate the government to make a return.
I agree we have been overtaxed. And I agree that promises made by politicians have been broken (surprise!) But the money people receive today IS a government benefit, not a return on investment. And the government can make this benefit as large or as small as the governing authorities decide. And citizens who have paid the taxes have NO recourse. They are owed nothing.
Life isn't fair. And it bad to realize you were misled.
But its better to live in reality that to try to live in a construct of fantasy.
Even though I have to live by whatever the courts declare to be LEGAL, I really don't care what they make legal or illegal.
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