Vessol
06-16-2010, 06:33 PM
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/Federal-Spending-by-the-Numbers-2010
Some gems
-Stimulus dollars have been spent on mascot costumes, electric golf carts, and a university study examining how much alcohol college freshmen women require before agreeing to casual sex.
-The Congressional Research Service has confirmed that the new health care law may subsidize Viagra and other sexual performance drugs for convicted rapists and sex offenders.
-Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
-A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, including “over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold.” The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.
-New York distributed $140 million in stimulus money into the individual accounts of families on welfare, yet neglected to mention it was intended for school supplies. Local ATMs were depleted, and much of the money was reportedly spent on “flat screen TV’s, iPods and video gaming systems” as well as “cigarettes and beer.”
-The stimulus set aside $350 million for a national broadband coverage map—even though one private firm stated it could create one for $3.5 million.
-The Census Bureau spent $2.5 million on Super Bowl ads, and on-air mentions by sportscasters.
-New documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lost 1,000 computers in 2008. Not to be outdone, Homeland Security officers lost nearly 200 guns in places like restaurant restrooms, convenience stores, and bowling alleys. Several of the guns ended up in the hands of criminals.
-The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.
-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.
-The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable.
-The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000 households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43 million in additional federal funds.
-Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass in their backyards—subsidies that many of these families never requested and do not want.
-Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs, iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.
-Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.
-Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers—the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New Orleans.
-Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients.
-Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.
-The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.
Some gems
-Stimulus dollars have been spent on mascot costumes, electric golf carts, and a university study examining how much alcohol college freshmen women require before agreeing to casual sex.
-The Congressional Research Service has confirmed that the new health care law may subsidize Viagra and other sexual performance drugs for convicted rapists and sex offenders.
-Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
-A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, including “over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold.” The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.
-New York distributed $140 million in stimulus money into the individual accounts of families on welfare, yet neglected to mention it was intended for school supplies. Local ATMs were depleted, and much of the money was reportedly spent on “flat screen TV’s, iPods and video gaming systems” as well as “cigarettes and beer.”
-The stimulus set aside $350 million for a national broadband coverage map—even though one private firm stated it could create one for $3.5 million.
-The Census Bureau spent $2.5 million on Super Bowl ads, and on-air mentions by sportscasters.
-New documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lost 1,000 computers in 2008. Not to be outdone, Homeland Security officers lost nearly 200 guns in places like restaurant restrooms, convenience stores, and bowling alleys. Several of the guns ended up in the hands of criminals.
-The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.
-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.
-The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable.
-The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000 households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43 million in additional federal funds.
-Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass in their backyards—subsidies that many of these families never requested and do not want.
-Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs, iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.
-Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.
-Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers—the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New Orleans.
-Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients.
-Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.
-The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.