2008: Worst Waste of the Year. A Look Back Through Some of the Year's Most Outrageous Federal Spending

摘要

Politicians in Washington outdid themselves in 2008, wasting taxpayer money in ways and amounts once thought unimaginable all without blushing. So outrageous was the spending, an outside observer would be forced to think that not only do Americans love to pay taxes, but that the federal budget was in a state of perpetual surplus. This report is an attempt to pull back the curtain on 65 examples of wasteful Washington spending worth more than $1.3 billion, and by doing so, provide a mechanism to hold Congress accountable for fiscal responsibility. It is time for Washington to stop recklessly spending other peoples money and burdening future generations with insurmountable national debt. Wasting taxpayer dollars in any year is unacceptable, but the extent to which it occurred in 2008 was a clear demonstration of how Washington politicians often put low-priority items ahead of more important needs. Federal agencies dedicated scarce dollars to the search for outer space aliens ($9.4 million), a retractable shade canopy ($2.4 million), training classes for casino workers ($784,000), voice mail for the homeless ($15,000), and a non-functioning gas station shaped like an airplane ($9,000). This was the case despite the fact that by the end of the fiscal year the federal government spent nearly $3 trillion, but racked up a $455 billion budget deficit the largest in the nations history. If the surpluses from Social Security and Medicare are not included, the true federal deficit was $639 billion. The current national debt stands at more than $10.6 trillion, which must be repaid with interest. While these examples of waste might seem insignificant when compared with the overall federal budget, the cost is sizeable when added together. And worse, many of these low priority projects are funded year after year, regardless of whether they achieve their intended effects or not.