The federal government continues to blow money on things like studying the dating habits of seniors, and funding a “silent Shakespeare” festival near the nation’s capital, according to a new report.
It’s even spending money to study what happens to bugs when manmade lights are turned on, even in the face of a national debt that’s quickly approaching $19 trillion.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., on Monday released a new report on the billions of dollars the federal government wastes each year. Lankford’s report takes over where former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., left off with his annual “wastebook.”
Lankford’s report is called “Federal Fumbles: 100 ways the government dropped the ball,” and among the programs listed is funding for studies on senior dating habits.
“We’re talking about spending $300,000 on trying to fund a dating study for senior adults … senior adults that are previously married, how they handle dating later in life,” he said on C-SPAN Monday morning. To save that money, Lankford said Congress should simply cancel the program.
“You just tell them, we don’t do research like that,” he said.
Lankford said taxpayers are also spending $683,000 for “silent Shakespeare” productions in Washington, D.C., even though most will never see it, and at a time of rising debt levels.
“If the folks that are in that area want to be able to have a silent Shakespeare festival, they’re certainly welcome, there’s nothing wrong I guess,” he said. Though Lankford did seem skeptical of the idea, and noted that Shakespeare “seemed to be known for his words, not his silence.”
On the bug study, the report concluded that “anyone raised in a rural area can attest that one way to attract insects is to turn on a light.”
Other key waste areas include:
- $3.1 billion in paid administrative leave from 2011-13, essentially salaries to federal workers who are being investigated
- $2.7 million on a weight-loss program for truckdrivers
- $250 million to train 60 Syrian rebels, only a handful of which are still on the battlefield
- A $25,000 grant to fund the Oscars museum
- More than $400,000 to study whether the media polarizes people
- $65,000 to study what happens to bugs that are faced with artificial lights
Lankford’s report also highlighted the $43 million the government spent to build one natural gas facility in Afghanistan.
But unlike Coburn’s prior reports, Lankford also hits excessive federal regulation as something that is also hurting families and the U.S. economy. It cites environmental and health regulations as items that lead to lost productivity and added costs to consumers.
“Congress owes it to the American people to carefully scrutinize the regulatory process to ensure regulations work for the people. We can balance responsible regulations with cost-effective solutions that work for families,” he said in the report. “If we do not stop the rising tide of excessive federal regulations, how will the next generation of leaders start the next great American company or afford basic expenses for the family?”
