Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Instead of wasting $630,000 worth of taxpayer money to attract followers to the State Department’s Facebook and Twitter account, why not send every taxpaying household in America a copy of U.S. Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) annual oversight report – Wastebook 2013 – so they can see exactly what the government is doing with their hard-earned dollars?
Of course, no wasteful government in their right mind would do such a thing. Who wants the paying public to know that nearly $30 billion of their dollars was wasted last year on projects so outrageous they should make even the most seasoned Washington lobbyist blush in shame.
For instance, check out a few of these whoppers:
1. $325,525 spent by the National Institutes for Health on a study that determined wives should calm down.
“Wives would find marriage more satisfying if they could calm down faster during arguments with their husbands, according to government-funded research,” Coburn writes, then adds: “If your wife is angry at you and you don’t want her to stay that way, you might avoid passing along the findings of this government study.”
2. $52,952 paid to the Fort Hood Shooter who continued to collect his government paycheck.
“While the families of the survivors and victims were fighting to receive military benefits, the Fort Hood shooter Major Nadal Hasan was cashing his paycheck. Since the shooting, Hasan has received over $278,000 in military benefits because the Military Code of Justice doesn’t allow a soldier to be suspended until they are found guilty.”
3. $3 million spent by NASA to study life – in Congress!
“One of NASA’s next research missions won’t be exploring an alien planet or distant galaxy. Instead, the space agency is spending $3 million to go to Washington, D.C. and study one of the greatest mysteries in the universe—how Congress works,” Coburn writes.
4. $914,000 spent exploring popular romance
Coburn reports that the Popular Romance Project has received nearly $1 million from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) since 2010 to “explore the fascinating, often contradictory origins and influences of popular romance as told in novels, films, comics, advice books, songs, and internet fan fiction, taking a global perspective—while looking back across time as far as the ancient Greeks.”
5. $1.9 million for “lifestyle coaching” for the Senate staff
Some of the important coaching included in this program is on the “benefits of a good night’s sleep.”
It gets worse, as Coburn explained upon the book’s release.
“The nearly $30 billion in questionable and lower-priority spending in Wastebook 2013 is a small fraction of the more than $200 billion we throw away every year through fraud, waste, duplication and mismanagement. There is more than enough stupidity and incompetence in government to allow us to live well below the budget caps. What’s lacking is the common sense and courage in Washington to make those choices – and passage of fiscally-responsible spending bills – possible,” said Dr. Coburn.
He added: “This report speaks volumes about why confidence in government is at an all-time low. The hard truth is we’d much rather borrow than cut. The American people are right to expect more.”
You can read Coburn’s complete compilation of wasteful spending here.
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