Your tax dollars at work
Posted by Richard on January 14, 2019
Or to be more precise, your tax dollars and your children’s tax dollars and your grandchildren’s tax dollars. Caleb Hull, unhappy that Congress won’t fund a border wall/fence/whatever, went on a Twitter rant last week pointing out some of the absurd and outrageous things that Congress has funded. Twitchy, of course, collected his tweets for your easy perusal. Here are some of my favorites:
- $765,828 on pancakes: tax dollars subsidized an IHOP in an “under-served” area of DC
Because making pancakes at home is so difficult and expensive. Can you even buy Bisquick and Mrs. Butterworth’s with a SNAP card? Plus, the obesity rate of the poor isn’t nearly high enough. (I’m guessing that the franchise owner of the IHOP in question has a friend at the Capitol.)
- $442,340 studying behavior of male prostitutes in Vietnam
No doubt the researchers who got this grant privately referred to it as “gaycation money.”
- $2,000,000 for the Department of Agriculture to fund an internship program. The program hired ONE full-time intern.
- $250M training 60 Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State
So funding a USDA intern costs $2 million, but funding a Syrian rebel costs over $4 million? I thought the cost of living was much lower in Syria than in D.C.
- $10M on creating two video games aimed at fighting obesity (FOR REAL)
Um, doesn’t the very existence of video games contribute to obesity?
- $5M on tweeting responses to pro-ISIS rhetoric
Hey, Congress, there are plenty of us who’d be happy to do this more cheaply. Put this out for competitive bidding!
- $325,000 to build a robot squirrel
Ooh, I want one! My cats could have a great time with it. And keeping my cats amused should be considered an essential government service.
If you want to know more about how Congress is frittering away your hard-earned money (and your blood pressure can stand it), get to know Citizens Against Government Waste. Their 2018 Pig Book details the 232 pork projects (earmarks) funded last year at a cost more than double the cost of earmarks in 2017 (one contributor to the federal budget surging 13.4% over 2017). But CAGW doesn’t just rail against pork. Their 2018 Prime Cuts makes 636 recommendations across virtually every department and agency for cutting spending. Those cuts would save more than $3 trillion over five years.
Updating the late Sen. Everett Dirksen to account for inflation, a trillion here and a trillion there and pretty soon it adds up to real money.
Rick Shultz said
You are in rare form. Both W.C. Fields and Groucho would be proud of you. The burning question here for me, I think, would have to be: What in pluperfect HELL could they possibly use a fucking robot squirrel for? I mean never mind cost, just try to come up with ONE use that is essential to national security that DOESN’T involve bird feeders or fucking robot CATS! JEEEZUS AYCH CHRYST!!!
Richard said
As I said, keeping my cats amused. Unforgivably, they’ve failed to provide me with said robot squirrel.
Rick Shultz said
BTW you can congratulate me or commiserate whichever you want as this coming Sunday the 20th I shall reach the grand old age of 67 years. Sorry I couldn’t find a party favor sound effect.
Richard said
Happy belated birthday, you young whippersnapper! Ain’t gettin’ old great?
Well, no it’s not. But it sure beats the alternative.