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Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines -- plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars. https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/50-examples-government-waste

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unnecessary printing. kills a lot of trees and waste a lot of money in making paper(930,000,000).

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unnecessary printing. kills a lot of trees and waste a lot of money in making paper(930,000,000).

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https://moneyminiblog.com/lists/stupidest-things-u-s-government-spends-money-on/

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MAKING HAMSTERS FIGHTSince 1996, Northeastern University researcher Richard Melloni has received more than $3 million in taxpayer funds from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to make hamsters fight each other while on anabolic steroids and other aggression-fueling drugs. After more than two decades, Melloni’s experiments finally stopped receiving federal funds in 2017.

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MAKING HAMSTERS FIGHTSince 1996, Northeastern University researcher Richard Melloni has received more than $3 million in taxpayer funds from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to make hamsters fight each other while on anabolic steroids and other aggression-fueling drugs. After more than two decades, Melloni’s experiments finally stopped receiving federal funds in 2017.

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https://blog.cheapism.com/biggest-wastes-of-tax-dollars/#slide=9

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 Political wrangling twists the most noble-sounding government programs beyond recognition.

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 Political wrangling twists the most noble-sounding government programs beyond recognition.

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Social Security Administration’s $25 billion a year Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Almost 250,000 children qualify for SSI checks because they can’t participate in “age appropriate activities.” Though thousands of prisoners get SSI checks relating to their alleged disabilities—costing taxpayers about $20 million a year.

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Since my job is to be a watchdog on government waste, I'm often asked about the most outrageous cases.

That's a tough call because government bureaucrats never take care of your money as carefully as you would take care of it yourself. More important, bureaucrats spend money on what government wants, not what you want-which is the whole point of taxing away your money.

Without authorization, for instance, the feds spent $19.6 million annually on the International Fund for Ireland. Sounds like a noble cause, but the money went for projects like pony-trekking centers and golf videos.

Congressional budget-cutters spared the $440,000 spent annually to have attendants push buttons on the fully automated Capitol Hill elevators used by Representatives and Senators.

Last year, the National Endowment for the Humanities spent $4.2 million to conduct a nebulous "National Conversation on Pluralism and Identity." Obviously, talk radio wasn't considered good enough.

The Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency channeled some $11 million to psychics who might provide special insights about various foreign threats. This was the disappointing "Stargate" program.

The Department of Education spent $34 million supposedly helping Americans become better shoppers and homemakers. Wasn't it about time?

The federal government proposed spending $14 million for a new Army Museum, although there already were 47 Army Museums around the country. We helped stop that idea.

Dubious government spending schemes abound since bureaucrats play with other people's money. For example, the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) spent $70,029 to see if the degu, a diurnal South American rodent, can help us better understand jet lag . . . they spent $77,826 to study "Coping with Change in Czechoslovakia" . . . $100,271 to see if volunteering is good for older people . . . $124,910 to reduce "School Phobia" in children . . . $161,913 to study "Israeli reactions to SCUD Attacks during the Gulf War" . . . and $187,042 to study the quality of life in Hawaii.

Over the years, political wrangling twists the most noble-sounding government programs beyond recognition. For example, the Social Security Administration's $25 billion a year Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Almost 250,000 children qualify for SSI checks because they can't participate in "age appropriate activities." Worse, thousands of prisoners get SSI checks relating to their alleged disabilities-costing taxpayers about $20 million a year.

That's not all. In Denver, the government reportedly sent $160,000 to recipients at their "official address"-a tavern. A San Francisco addict used his SSI check to buy drugs, which he subsequently sold on the street for a profit. A Van Nuys, California, alcoholic received a $26,000 SSI check, then spent the money on a van and two cars which he subsequently wrecked while driving drunk. Los Angeles SSI recipients reportedly faked mental illness and had a doctor concoct false medical records, so they could pocket $45,000 worth of checks. An estimated 79,000 alcoholics and drug addicts are believed to spend SSI checks-some $360 million annually-on their habits.

Again and again, programs aimed at the poor are captured by well-heeled interest groups. For example, the Commerce Department's U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA) gave away $440,000 in so-called "disaster relief" to Western ski resort operators when there wasn't much snow.

The Economic Development Administration spent "anti-poverty" funds to help build a $1.2 million football stadium in spiffy Spartanburg, South Carolina. During the summer, it will serve as a practice facility for the National Football League Carolina Panthers, and the rest of the year it will be used by Wofford College, which has a $50 million endowment.

Look at one of the most enduring legacies of Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty": the Appalachian Regional Commission. It was billed as help for an impoverished region. During the past three decades, this bureaucracy you've probably never heard of has spent $6.2 billion, yet the region remains impoverished.

Where did the money go? Two-thirds was spent building 26 highways connecting well-to-do urban centers. The money went to construction workers whose wages are definitely above-average. Despite revolutionary talk in Washington, the Appalachian Regional Commission goes on and on.

Or take the plight of the family farmer. I know you've been regaled about wasteful spending on agricultural subsidies, so I'll just cite a single intriguing example: 1.6 million farm subsidy checks for $1.3 billion, mailed to urban zip codes during the past decade. New York City "farmers" pocketed $7 million during the past decade, Washington, D.C., "farmers" $10 million, Los Angeles "farmers" $10.7 million, Minneapolis "farmers" $48 million, Miami "farmers" $54.5 million, and Phoenix "farmers" $71.5 million. Among those on the take, to the tune of $1.3 million: 47 "farmers" in Beverly Hills, California-one of America's wealthiest cities.

A lot of government spending is justified as necessary for national security. For instance, maritime subsidies supposedly help maintain a fleet for an emergency. Laws require government agencies to use U.S.-flag vessels which are U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed, costing two to four times the world market price of comparable vessels available elsewhere. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Agency for International Development give away surplus grain, they must use U.S.-flag vessels for at least 75 percent of shipments, adding $233 million to the taxpayer burden. The U.S.-flag requirement adds $1.75 billion to the defense budget. Subsidy per maritime job: over $100,000.

The defense budget is larded with waste not because it's run by bad guys but because it's big, and bureaucrats are, as always, spending other people's money. The Pentagon has an "operational support airlift" consisting of some 500 airplanes and 100 helicopters for flying military brass and civilian bureaucrats on 1,800 trips a month-costing taxpayers $380 million a year. Many of the destinations are served by commercial airlines.

Last year, the Pentagon announced it would spend $5.1 million to build a new 18-hole golf course at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland, which already has two. Golf Digest reported there are 19 military golf courses around Washington, D.C. Why a new golf course? One Pentagon official was quoted as saying "a lot of golf gets played out there. On Saturday mornings, people are standing on top of each other."
Can It Continue?
How can such outrageous waste go on year after year? Simple: bureaucrats aren't doling out their money, so they have little incentive to be responsible. Politically connected special interests, who are usually better off than the average taxpayer, seem to get most of the loot.

The most powerful special interest is government itself. In fiscal year 1993, the federal government owned 569,556 vehicles-one for every six full-time employees. Included were 117 limousines. The government's fleet expanded more than 130,000 vehicles since the Grace Commission called for it to be cut in half more than a decade ago.

Government officials multiply the number of regulations regardless of the waste they cause. For example, the Defense Department has 1,357 pages of regulations about how officials travel. Complying with these regulations adds about 30 percent to travel costs. If the Pentagon adopted the best practices of private companies, it could save an estimated $650 million to $840 million every year. Of course, government regulations cause enormous waste in the private sector-tax compliance costs alone run into the billions-but that's a vast subject unto itself.

The federal government wastes money through grants to the most politically powerful environmental lobbyists. For example, between 1990 and 1994, the Natural Resources Defense Council got $246,622; Defenders of Wildlife, $1,285,658; Environmental Defense Fund, $1,493,976; and the World Wildlife Fund, $26,584,335. All together, environmental lobbyists collected $156,644,352 during this period. Every one pushes the federal government to enact more regulations.

Whenever you hear a politician propose that government take over some private business, like New York's troubled Long Island Lighting Company, there should be red flags all over the place, because government operation means high costs. At the U.S. Government Printing Office, for instance, costs are estimated to be 50 percent higher than in the private printing industry. If the U.S. air traffic control system were transferred to private companies and the services paid by user fees, taxpayer savings would probably be around $18 billion over the next five years.

With a $1.5 trillion annual budget, the feds take so much of your money that they can't possibly keep track of it even if they wanted to. For example, a contractor sold $27 electronic relays to the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve for between $484 and $521 apiece. The Department of Energy paid some of its employees $5,000 a year to lose weight-the outlays totaled $10 million a year. The owner of a California apartment building got Department of Housing and Urban Development subsidies, then illicitly diverted $610,000 into his own accounts. One "farmer" collected $1.6 million in government insurance payments for non-existent crops. Forty-three people in New York City pocketed over $40 million in phony food stamp claims. Five Floridians stole $20 million from Medicare-part of the estimated $17 billion of annual Medicare fraud.

What to do about such waste? The government is crawling with auditors, and there have been a zillion investigations, yet waste goes on. Citizens Against Government Waste will continue to be a watchdog. The only long-term solution, though, is to somehow cut big government down to size. Only when it's much smaller will you be able to keep more of your hard-earned money, which, after all, is yours.

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Most Outrageous Government Waste | Thomas A. Schatz

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Since my job is to be a watchdog on government waste, I'm often asked about the most outrageous cases. That's a tough call because government bureaucrats never take care of your money as carefully as you would take care of it yourself.

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In 2015 students from the University of Washington received $1.3 million to study how foam koozies keep beer cold in hot weather.

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In 2015 students from the University of Washington received $1.3 million to study how foam koozies keep beer cold in hot weather.

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Like the old saying, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," the Department of Transportation's TIGER is one federal program that keeps screwing up and getting rewarded with extra funds as a result. They've violated internal controls to prevent projects from being used as political patronage, in one case granting $47 million to an Atlanta streetcar project that cost three times as much as projected and created a quarter of the jobs. In 2018, a pedestrian bridge in Florida funded with $11.4 million in TIGER grants collapsed, killing six people. Two weeks later, Congress passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill tripling TIGER's funding.

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A study of beer koozies keep drinks cold, Air Force coffee mugs that cost $800, and military uniforms that would have the opposite effect of providing camouflage are just a few of the ways the government has spent billions of dollars on thing that make no sense.

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Almost 54% of government discretionary spending is on the military. With a total of 598.5 billion dollars spent in 2015. 

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Almost 54% of government discretionary spending is on the military. With a total of 598.5 billion dollars spent in 2015. 

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https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states/

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The government spent at least $518,000 in federal grants to study how 🤬 affects the sexual behavior of Japanese quails.

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11 Bizarre Things the U.S. Government Actually Spent Money On

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Did you know the government wasted $28 million on a bad wardrobe choice? You'll be blown away by these bizarre uses for government money.

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The government spent $325,000 on special re-heating mugs for the air force. https://blog.cheapism.com/biggest-wastes-of-tax-dollars/#slide=5

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Trumps wall has so far costed 11 billion or 20 million a mile. to keep drugs and illegals out. people have a positive and a negative view on this government spending.
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/19/797319968/-11-billion-and-counting-trumps-border-wall-would-be-the-world-s-most-costly

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After 17 years in development, the Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is seven years behind schedule and $173 billion over budget, making it the most expensive weapon system in history with an estimated lifetime maintenance cost of $1 trillion.
https://blog.cheapism.com/biggest-wastes-of-tax-dollars/#slide=3

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The US National Institutes of Health spent $592,527 to study why Chimpanzees throw their feces.

https://erietigertimes.com/1685/uncategorized/18-ridiculous-things-the-federal-government-has-funded/

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The Department of Transportation announced a $1.04 billion dollar grant to expand the San Diego trolly service by only 10.9 miles.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

9/14/2016

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced a $1.04 billion federal grant agreement with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to extend existing Blue Line Trolley service from downtown San Diego to the growing University City area. The extension will improve access to employment hubs and numerous educational and medical facilities north of downtown, making it easier for people to travel throughout the city.

FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers made the announcement to commit the funds during a ceremony with representatives from SANDAG and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), which will operate the service once it is built.

"The Obama Administration is committed to investing in transportation projects that improve mobility and provide ladders of opportunity for residents," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "San Diego's Trolley extension will do just that by helping thousands of transit riders to access employment, education, healthcare and other important services."

The 10.92-mile light rail extension, referred to locally as the Mid-Coast Trolley, will serve major activity centers such as Old Town, Mission Bay Park, the Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, UC San Diego, and the Westfield UTC shopping center. Officials estimate the project will serve 24,600 transit trips every weekday, with service anticipated to start in 2021.

"FTA is proud to partner with San Diego to bring new transit options to this growing region," said FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers. "With the population along the Mid-Coast corridor expected to grow nearly 20 percent in the coming decades, this trolley extension will offer a much-needed alternative to traffic congestion in the years ahead."

With the signing of the federal grant agreement, FTA is committing a total of $1.04 billion through its Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program to the $2.17 billion Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project. In addition to the $100 million that will be awarded with the signing of the grant agreement today, the remaining federal funds will be provided over the course of 10 years on an annual payment schedule, subject to Congressional approval during the annual appropriations process.

The CIG Program is the nation's primary grant program for funding major transit capital investments. Projects accepted into the highly competitive program must go through a multi-year, multi-step process according to requirements in law in order to be eligible for and receive program funds.

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U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $1 Billion to Expand Trolley Service in San Diego

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced a $1.04 billion federal grant agreement with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) to extend existing Blue Line Trolley service from downtown San Diego to the growing University City area.

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a troubling increase in the number of cases of government officials spending public money to campaign for or against ballot measures without disclosing that spending to voters.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/05/opinion-state-watchdog-concerned-about-public-spending-on-campaigns/

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The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.[49] https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/50-examples-government-waste

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lowering the gas prices in the south https://www.businessinsider.com/cheap-gas-costs-95-cents-at-some-stations-oil-price-2020-3

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10. $283,500 on Department of Defense bird-watching. Government spent over 100k on watching a endangered bird. 

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10. $283,500 on Department of Defense bird-watching. Government spent over 100k on watching a endangered bird. 

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The Ten Most Ridiculous Ways the Government Wastes Your Money | National Review

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Here are NR's top-ten favorite - which is to say, most scoff-worthy and absurd - examples of how the government wastes your time, energy, and hard-earned cash.

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¨More than $2 billion has been spent to convert an abandoned mental hospital (St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, an historic landmark) into a Department of Homeland Security headquarters (GSA and DHS).¨

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The Environmental Protection Agency was criticised in 2015 for allocating $36,700 of taxpayers' money to an organisation tasked with creating a Minecraft version of the Berkshire region of Massachusetts, ostensibly to educate young people about environmental issues.

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The Environmental Protection Agency was criticised in 2015 for allocating $36,700 of taxpayers' money to an organisation tasked with creating a Minecraft version of the Berkshire region of Massachusetts, ostensibly to educate young people about environmental issues.

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https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/71499/controversial-ways-the-us-government-spends-taxpayers-money

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Army Chief of Staff Gen. says the nation has more than enough tanks. Around 2,000 were sitting unused in the California desert. Tank production serves local industries.$1.5 billion dollars worth of taxes has been used on tanks since 1994, and $593 million were allocated in 2018. https://blog.cheapism.com/biggest-wastes-of-tax-dollars/#close

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Army Chief of Staff Gen. says the nation has more than enough tanks. Around 2,000 were sitting unused in the California desert. Tank production serves local industries.$1.5 billion dollars worth of taxes has been used on tanks since 1994, and $593 million were allocated in 2018. https://blog.cheapism.com/biggest-wastes-of-tax-dollars/#close

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Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job

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Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job

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http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=47976