THE FESTIVUS REPORT 2022

Festivus Report Rand Paul ^ | December 27, 2022 | Rand Paul

[artichokegrower]

Happy Festivus! How is 2022 already coming to a close? What a year it’s been. It’s safe to say that some big changes have occurred since last year’s Festivus Report. Last Festivus, we lamented over the national debt reaching an astronomical $28.4 trillion. Shockingly, in one short year, the career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have managed to breeze right past $30 trillion without so much as a second thought. The debt has risen so rapidly that the Congressional Budget Office projects that, within the next 30 years, there is not a single year in which the federal budget will balance. Who’s to blame? One need not look further than the $3.5 trillion that the big government politicians in Congress spent on the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which ultimately does nothing to truly combat rising inflation rates.

[artichokegrower]

NIH SPENT $2.1 MILLION ON ENCOURAGING ETHIOPIANS TO WEAR SHOES

Go figure

[xp38]

In Ethiopia or those Ethiopians in America?

[caww]

"This year.... highlighting a whopping $482,276,543,907 of waste, including a steroid-induced hamster fight club,.... a study to see if kids love their pets, .....and a study of the romantic patterns of parrots.....

Giving ineligible citizens COVID Economic Injury Disaster Grants (SBA).....$4,500,000,000

 Using COVID relief funds to construct an 11,000 square foot spa................. $140,000,000

 Using COVID relief funds to purchase luxury cars ...................................$31,500,000

 Wisconsin school using COVID relief funds to upgrade turf fields....................$1,600,000

 Camouflage uniforms that do not fit the Afghanistan environment (DOD)........$28,000,000

 Funding a 1.5-mile park in Austin, Texas, used for yoga and concerts (DOD).......$9,000,000

 Starbucks espresso machines (DOD)......................................................$192,592

 Interest Payments on the Debt (Treasury)..........................................$475,000,000,000

 Maintaining 77,000 empty Federal buildings (GSA).................................$1,700,000,000

 “Basic education” projects in Jordan (USAID)........................................$210,069,000

 Expanding the Washington, D.C. Streetcar that’s rarely used and unreliable.......$175,000,000

 Helping illegal immigrants avoid deportation (DHS)................................ $168,000,000

 Mismanaged and un-tracked fuel purchases (State).................................... $77,000,000

 Subsidizing the free New York Staten Island Ferry (DOT).............................$70,000,000

 Overpaying government contractors for a terminated contract (GSA)..............$69,000,000

 East Baton Rouge unused federal housing grants (HUD)..............................$13,400,000

 Boosting the Tunisia travel sector during COVID-19 (USAID)......................$50,000,000

 Unused hotel rooms for illegal immigrants (DHS).....................................$17,000,000

 Constructing a Gandhi museum............................... .............................$3,000,000

 Watching hamsters fight on steroids (NIH)...............................................$3,000,000

 Super Bowl commercials telling you to fill out the Census (Commerce)..............$2,500,000

 Injecting 6-month-old beagle puppies with cocaine (NIH) .....................................$2,300,000

 Encouraging Ethiopians to wear shoes (NIH)...............................................................$2,100,000

 Training mice to binge drink alcohol (NIH)..............................................$1,100,000

 Studying the romance between parrots (NSF)...................................................$689,222

 Studying the social life and collective intelligence of ants (NSF)..........................$675,000

 Using mice to study racial aggression (NIH)................................................$519,828

 Redeveloping the United States hard cider market (USDA)............................. $491,794

 A radio campaign telling drivers to stop at railroad crossings (DOT)....................$200,000

 Verifying that kids love their pets (NIH)...................................................$187,500

 Researching if Thanos could snap his fingers wearing the infinity gauntlet (NSF).....$118,971

[FormerFRLurker]

Injecting puppies with cocaine should be a capital offense, not a federally funded activity.

[caww]

Ya gotta wonder who puts this crap into th bill....

[oldtech]

Just cutting this list down(completely)would go a long ways toward getting the budget where it should be. So it disappoints a bunch of Democrats...it’s easier than what some of them deserve! Who gives a rip? It’s well past time when things like what’s on this list were completely eliminated. If we don’t make some HUGE changes, we are going to lose our country. Then what happens?