Government blatantly wasted $30 billion this year
This was actually a very interesting article highlighting some of the ways the government wasted 30 billion dollars. It was not only enlightening, but it was also funny at points so everyone should enjoy it. It gives many examples from Tom Coburn's annual "Wastebook". Some of the expenditures that do not help most taxpayers include a 3-D pizza printer for NASA, and a football field sized blimp that was ever used. Enjoy. Learn. Government!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find it refreshing that a congressman thinks that congress should not be paid for the time during which the government was shut down. You can't get paid if you don't do work. I am also extremely confused as to how this occurs. Who in the government fells like throwing all this money? I am worried about our trillion dollar debt and other money issues and this upsets me. Especially the grant given to Yale! They have plenty of money and need no help from the government.
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting to read. I mean, the humor in it kept me entertained and all, but what I really found interesting about this article was that it was a Congressman discussing how awful and ineffective this Congress has been. Most of them would try to defend their ineffectiveness, but he was very straightforward in telling that all this money was wasted on stupid and wasteful things. Very interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteI also found this article quite interesting and humorous. I agree with Yarrow that it is refreshing that congressmen were not paid during the government shutdown. Its ridiculous that 30 billion dollars were essentially wasted. All in all, this was a fascinating article.
ReplyDeleteMoney is, and always will be a source of controversy in government. I, like many others who have read this article are disappointed in the wastes if money that was demonstrated. I think that this article demonstrates clearly the ineffective use if money in our governmental system. Perhaps the politicians' fixation on their own sources of money relates to how the spend our public money? What else could account for the ridiculous expenditures we are seeing?
ReplyDeleteAlthough I found this article very interesting also, it angered me on some of the things that the government spent money on. They are all so unnecessary and expensive that Coburn said that if just the 100 examples had been eliminated, the sequester amount would have been reduced by a third and the controversy would not be what it is today. Even these little projects that cost a lot of money could add up and alter the state of the economy. It's surprising and hopefully a wake up call.
ReplyDeleteIt is so completely ridiculous that congressmen are paid for time not spent working! How can we expect them to be focussed on the problems facing America, and what they need to do to fix them when their is no monetary incentive for them to actually be working. Instead we pay them no matter what their doing.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting and I liked how it included humor while still getting a serious message across. It is ridiculous how much money the government wastes and how little is done about it. Instead of making large cuts in programs that really matter to Americans, Congress should look to cut some of the things discussing in this article that are really not necessary.
ReplyDeleteThis article is funny and upsetting at the same time. Of course, there are many incentives for a politician, but hopefully money isn't the primary focus of those who are running our country. But on the other hand, the fact that a Congressman was bashing Congress merits some approval. At least some recognize their foolish wastefulness.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be hilarious and disturbing. On one hand, some of the oddities that the government spends money on made smile, but on the other hand it makes me sick to think that 30 billion dollars were wasted this year!!! I can't even begin to put 30 billion in perspective, but I am sure that money like that could have seriously helped a lot of people. I feel like the culture of our government has become one of "what's another 4 million dollars." This relaxed attitude is what has us in so much debt.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say my favorite expenditure was exploring the nature of the "duck penis." What is the price tag of such a necessary expense to the United States' budget? $400,000. That shocked me. The best part about this article was Coburn's quote. "Congress should not be paid when it fails to pass an annual budget required by law." I truly hope this report will gain attention and result in the termination of some of these ridiculous federal funded programs.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI liked how this article was very amusing, but at the same time made a very serious point about the poor choices of the government in regards to how they spend taxpayers money. 3 billion dollars is a crazy amount of wasted money that could be going towards better causes. I agree with Michaela that it seems the government has the attitude of "what's another 4 million dollars," which is not something that should be accepted, it continues to cause debt.
ReplyDeleteThe fact the Government can just waste $30 billion on junk is ridiculous, but hey I guess that's what runs the government, money. It was pretty weird to be quite honest why would you waste money on "duck penis" and it's because they can. If I was in their position I'm sure I would buy some stupid things that other people didn't like, so I don't completely blame them
ReplyDeleteOn one hand i am not surprised that the government pours that amount of funding into things that seem somewhat nonfunctionalor useless entirely, but i am also surprised that the government has decided to cut spending where it has, and continue to squander billions of dollars on such unnecessary programs.
ReplyDelete30 billion dollars in waste is not surprising given all of the corruption, confusion and incompetence in congress. I think that Congress should definitely simplify their spending so that the money they do give is more meaningful. I was a bit disappointed in the authors criticism of NASA, which has endured a drastic cut in funding over the last 30 years. I would say that financing the brightest people in the world and the government's most successful program is nothing to complain about, in fact, i would like to see much more money being spend on NASA and other areas of scientific research.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was kind of funny, and although thought-provking, maybe a little pointless or something? Although unnecessary spending is definitely issue, I think there's too much beaurocracy to actually fix this. It would take a massive reform to get rid of this kind of behavior, reforms that would probably cause more problems than it would fix. Maybe worrying about spending that is damaging to most tax payers (like most tax plans) is something we could put more time into.
ReplyDeleteThis article is humorous and it crazy to see all of the pointless and wasteful things that the government chooses to spend money on. However, it is very upsetting when you think about all of the tough cuts that were made to important and valuable programs such as education. The continuation of funding these meaningless endeavors cannot be tolerated in the future.
ReplyDelete