Posted on 12/23/2021 10:15:35 PM PST by SeekAndFind
On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released his 2021 “Festivus” Report, which detailed a total of $52,598,515,585 in government waste.
Paul is chairman of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight (ETSO) Subcommittee for the Homeland Security and is on the Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC).
This marks Dr. Paul’s and the subcommittee’s seventh edition of the Festivus Report , which the Senator described as a way to “alert the American people to how their federal government uses their hard-earned money.”
Areas of spending are broken down into various sections, including COVID-related spending, Afghanistan, and miscellaneous expenditure. Examples include $11.3 million spent by the USAID on telling the people of Vietnam “to stop burning their trash,” Congress giving the Wilson Center — which “throws swanky parties for members of congress” — $14 million, and over $465,000 granted by the NIH to Reed College of Portland, Oregon, to “create a token-based economy where pigeons are taught to gamble with slot machines.”
“Happy Festivus! How can 2021 already be coming to a close? What a year it’s been,” the report begins. “And, it’s safe to say that some big changes have occurred since last year’s Festivus Report. Mask mandates, travel restrictions and lock-downs were lifted across many parts of the country. President Biden was inaugurated. Inflation has skyrocketed. The Kardashians finally ended their TV show after 14 years. ‘Dad bod’ was officially added to Webster’s Dictionary. And how about the Federal government? Well, unsurprisingly, it managed to keep spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need.”
“It seems like just yesterday the national debt was $20 trillion, but now the U.S. has managed to breeze past $28 trillion, spending and wasting more than we ever have,” Sen. Paul told The Daily Wire. “While some in Washington insist on recklessly spending your taxpayer dollars, I will continue to shed light on some of the most egregious examples of government waste, and fight against excessive federal spending.”
Based on the reported government waste of $52,598,515,585, Sen. Paul pointed out that, with an average taxpayer bill of $15,332, the federal government “wasted the taxes of 3,430,636 people.”
“That is roughly the population of Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; or 50.74 times the size of Senator Paul’s hometown of Bowling Green, KY,” the report noted.
The report stated that $40,316,270,000 (and counting) was wasted on COVID-19, including $4.29 billion in “bad loans out of the Paycheck Protection Program,” as much as $36 billion in “wasted unemployment insurance payments,” and $1.27 million in “COVID relief funds for students who actually weren’t enrolled” in one Baltimore school.
Miscellaneous wastage amounting to more than $8 billion included $250 million to “build border walls in the Middle East and North Africa,” $179 million for the State Department to “fund green energy programs in Africa,” and $200,000 to teach “France about U.S. culture.”
A drop in the bucket.
It’s going in pockets up and down THEIR supply of revenue chain....with those taking their cut along the way top to bottom.
You can be assured of that. My question is, when do the perp walks begin?
Yep. Just a spit in the ocean, isn’t it?
He could have identified a trillion without breaking a sweat.
90% of what the government does violates their constitutional boundaries and makes the nation immeasurably worse off.
They won’t.
Of course they won’t. They might DO a couple of low level criminals, just to give some appearance that they actually care about law and order. They don’t, and the real scum sucking dirt bags, will walk away with gigantic bank accounts. We the people are left holding the bag, AGAIN.
I wouldn’t trust the government, to buy a toothbrush, without corrupting the process. Would you say, I am a bit on the cynical side? 😄😀
Jeepers I thought I was the only one up this late....it’s 2:00 AM here.
I have zero expectations of this administration doing anything other than letting people ride. They protect each other and they aren’t even ashamed about it. It often seems they’re laughing at the average citizen.
It’s 3 PM, Friday afternoon here. 😀 They ARE laughing at all of us, all the way to the bank. I know vengeance is mine, says the Lord, but most of us would like to get a bit of vengeance on them, long before God gets his hands on them.
Well things across our nation and with our Government leaders are fast getting out of hand these days.......”Do we hear a Distant Thunder”.....
It should be the roar of 155 MM, self propelled artillery.
The perp walks begin on the 12th.
Padding so many pockets no doubt. If only people would be held accountable.
In the year 2525? 😀🙃😆
Will man still be alive? 🤔
No. Realistic.
Will women still survive?
Money laundering for the Demoncrats…that’s all it is..
THIS is why I call it
Washington, District of Cartels.
The 12th of Never...
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