Doctor (and Oklahoma Senator) Tom Coburn has released “Wastebook 2011” containing 100 examples of the mind-numbing government spending that is wasting American tax money.
Writes Sen. Coburn, "Over the past 12 months, Washington politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government‘s out of control spending. All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not need, like the $6.9 billion worth of examples provided in this report. The result: Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt,1 which now exceeds $15 trillion."
Here are just a few of those examples:
* "Despite a federal budget crisis, taxpayers will be cutting checks this year to both political parties that could 'help pay for the stages, confetti, balloons, food, and booze' for their political conventions.The funds that are used to cover the conventions come from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF). This year each political party will receive a $17.7 million check that will pay a sizable portion of the convention costs. The PECF money will be distributed to each of the political convention committee‘s bank accounts.."
* "In 2009, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) undertook a four-year, $90 million effort to spur hiring and sales among Pakistani businesses. Two years later, the USAID Inspector General found no measurable increases in sales and employment."
* "An International House of Pancakes (IHOP) franchise was built with financial assistance courtesy of Uncle Sam. It was intended to help an underserved community... The new IHOP is not located in an underserved community but a popular Washington D.C.neighborhood. The neighborhood is Columbia Heights, which has become a local shopping hot spot..."
* "The federal government sent an average of $120 million in retirement and disability payments to
deceased former federal employees every year for at least the past five years."
* "America‘s national debt recently surpassed $15 trillion, much of which it borrowed from a variety of foreign countries. China, whose U.S. debt holdings exceed $1.1 trillion, is at the top of that list. So taxpayers might be shocked to learn that each year the United States provides millions in aid to China.In 2011, the U.S. government spent nearly $18 million on foreign aid programs to its biggest sovereign lender.This included $2.5 million for social services and about $4.4 million for programs to improve China‘s environment. In fact, China can better afford to fund these programs than the United States at this point."
I'm afraid that this infuriating list just goes on an on. So please pass the word -- we need to get these free-spending knuckleheads out of office ASAP.
