Warning: The more you read about Sen. Rand Paul’s report on wasteful spending by the Gov. the worse it gets. Also worth noting, we decided not to refer to the report as the ‘Festivus report’ or anything like that. While we dig Senator Paul’s sense of humor and his shout out to the list of grievances ala Seinfeld’s ‘Festivus’, we feel compelled to steer away from the comedy on this one. Why? Because the dollars amounts are just too big. We’re talking hundreds of billions of dollars being flushed away while the debt continues to skyrocket. There will be a reckoning. This fiscal irresponsibility can only go on for so long. The shit will hit the fan. It will be a very expensive fan because the Gov. bought it, but regardless, it will still be as horrible as a regular fan.
Let’s check out some of the highlights from Rand Paul’s report on wasteful spending by the Gov. Maybe some intrepid person could do the math on this and figure out how much each American owes to pay this off? That would be an interesting number. Oof.
- 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
But hey! At least they passed a giant omnibus spending bill, right? At least they continue to shovel taxpayer money around as if there was no end. Right?
