All records of a $3.2 million Department of Veterans’ Affairs grant meant to renovate a veterans’ cemetery disappeared in a mysterious office “burglary” shortly after the money vanished.
A $10 million National Science Foundation study of dogs, funded by taxpayers, concluded only that “mellow” dogs have “an edge” over “hyper dogs” in stressful situations because the more excitable dogs “crack under pressure.”
Department of Homeland Security officials paid $2.5 million to distribute drink coasters to bars in Washington D.C. that reminded people of its “see something, say something” policy on reporting suspicious behavior, but none of the coasters had a phone number to which patrons could report the terrorism they were sure to witness in D.C. bars.
The wasteful expenditures were among the more than 100 frivolous purchases included in Sen. Jeff Flake’s “Wastebook” report made public Tuesday. Continuing a tradition begun by retired Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, Flake detailed dozens of instances of blatant government waste in a 282-page report that highlighted the ridiculous nature of some government spending.
For example, Flake included a $2 million Department of Defense project aimed at designing “robots capable of performing a trumpet solo and jamming with human musicians.”
In addition to the pricey dog stress study, the National Science Foundation used taxpayer money to fund a number of questionable research projects, including one on “the social interactions of guppies” and another to determine whether koozies do, in fact, keep cans of beer cold.
“A $2 million campaign paid for by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is encouraging tourism to Lebanon, a country the U.S. State Department is urging Americans to avoid due to the heightened risk of attacks and kidnapping by terrorists,” Flake noted.
The Arizona senator described overarching patterns of waste in addition to the smaller instances of waste noted throughout the report.
“[L]ast year, Congress approved billions of dollars of additional funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to erase the medical backlog that was literally killing veterans,” he wrote. “A year later, the number of veterans waiting to see a doctor increased!”
“Wastebook” was an annual compilation of egregious examples of government waste started in Coburn’s office. Flake’s “Star Wars”-themed report, entitled “The Farce Awakens” as a nod to an upcoming reboot of the science fiction franchise, paid homage to Coburn’s legacy of calling out irresponsible spending.
“To see so much money so outlandishly wasted, it’s clear that Washington’s ballyhooing over budget austerity is a farce,” Flake said of his “Wastebook.” “Hopefully, this report gives Congress — which only ever seems to agree when it comes to spending money — something to Chewie on before the taxpayers strike back.”
