posted December 21, 2011 11:38 AM            

Top ten: Government spending at its stupidest
Taylor Bigler
12/20/2011

As the fight over how to fix America’s overspending habit ended in a stalemate this year, the federal government spent billions of dollars in 2011 on some unusual projects. And according to a new report from Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, $6.5 billion of it was wasted.

The list includes more than $100,000 on a video game “preservation” center, $120 million in salaries to dead employees and $15.3 million for one of the infamous Bridges to Nowhere — all in a year when the federal deficit rose by nearly $2 trillion.

Coburn’s “Wastebook 2011″ report lists 100 of the most egregious spending boondoggles.

Here are the top 10 most ridiculous things the federal government paid for this year:

10. $764,825 for a study on how college students use cell phones and social media

The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Notre Dame this grant to study the mobile and social media habits of college freshmen. We can tell you exactly how college freshmen use mobile phones and social media: for 3 a.m. texts and phone calls to that girl in American History. We could have saved the government a lot of money. Just ask us.

9. $136,555 for teachers to retrace Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in England

Ads by GoogleThis grant, awarded to teachers from Kent State and Eastern Illinois Universities, allowed Middle English lit fanatics to take the trip outlined in Canterbury Tales. We’re betting £10 that the tour guides just make up half of the landmarks.

8. $55,660 on butter packaging

Kriemhild Dairy Farms received this chunk of change to package their grass-fed cow butter. The funding isn’t the only thing that’s too big: The butter itself is 85 percent fat.

7. $606,000 for a study about online dating

Columbia University researchers received over a half-million dollars to study online dating. Maybe the Ivy League nerds who conducted this study should put down the lab coats and go to a bar — or at least the library.

6. $484,000 for a pizza restaurant

Arlington, Texas has one more beer and pizza joint, thanks to this grant to a private developer. The groovy Mellow Mushroom, a national chain, is known for its hippie theme.

5. $48,700 towards the Second Annual Hawaii Chocolate Festival

These funds were awarded to promote Hawaii’s chocolate industry. The Aloha State is already full of sandy beaches, clear blue water, and sun. Why do they get all the good stuff? (That’s the mayor of Hershey, Pennsylvania on Line 1.)

4. $147,138 to build a magic museum

Maybe the wizards at the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Mich., can make the federal deficit disappear. The grant was awarded to promote the “history of magic entertainment.”

3. $96,000 on iPads for kindergarteners

One school district in Maine was awarded this grant to buy every kindergarten student the latest Apple gadget. These kids can’t add yet, but thanks to Uncle Sam they’ll never need to.

2. $175,587 for a study on the link between cocaine and the mating habits of quail

The funding for this super-important scientific study is down from its 2010 level of $181,406. But we think the amount is ridiculous for research that proves what the film “Blow” already did: that cocaine is linked to high-risk sexual activity.

1. $130,987 for dragon robots

posted December 21, 2011 04:43 PM            

you have no further to look for the manifestation of YOUR paranoia, that civilian force obama was talking about, than the local military, erm, police force!

as to MY paranoia, well i guess having family who survived hitler keeps me a little sensitve to attempts to rein us in. mea culpa. but hardly unamerican!

have a happy new year too!

posted December 21, 2011 05:54 PM            

• $75,000 to promote awareness about the role Michigan plays in producing Christmas trees & poinsettias.

• $15.3 million for one of the infamous Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska.

• $113,227 for video game preservation center in New York.

• $550,000 for a documentary about how rock music contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• $350,000 to support an International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.

• $10 million for a remake of “Sesame Street” for Pakistan.

• $35 million allocated for political party conventions in 2012.

• $765,828 to subsidize “pancakes for yuppies” in the nation’s capital.

And then...there's turtle tunnels under highways! AND Hillary's Hippy Museum!

posted December 21, 2011 06:15 PM            

1. Forest Service to Replace Windows in Visitor Center Closed in 2007 (Amboy, WA) - $554,763

2. “Dance Draw” - Interactive Dance Software Development (Charlotte, NC) - $762,372

3. North Shore Connector to Professional Sports Stadiums, Casino (Pittsburgh, PA) - $62 million

4. FEMA Stalls Two Texas Fire Stations More Than a Year, Increases Costs (San Antonio, TX) - $7.3 million

5. Abandoned Train Station Converted Into Museum (Glassboro, NJ) - $1.2 million

6. Ants Talk. Taxpayers Listen (San Francisco, CA) - $1.9 million

7. Stimulus Project Threatens Pastor’s House (Newark, OH) - $1.8 million

8. Old Abandoned Iron Furnace Gets Facelift after Money Squandered on Same Project Years Before (Fitchburg, KY) – $357,710

9. Power Plant Construction Won’t Start for at Least Two Years (Kern County, CA) - $308 million

10. Town Replaces New Sidewalks With Newer Sidewalks That Lead to Ditch (Boynton, OK) - $89,298

11. Upgraded Office Space and Indoor Parking for Kansas Politicians (Topeka, Kansas) - $39.7 million plus . . .

posted December 21, 2011 06:49 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by jwhop:
I would have done it all for half of what they spent. Oh wait, I wouldn't have done it at all!

[b]Top ten: Government spending at its stupidest
Taylor Bigler
12/20/2011

As the fight over how to fix America’s overspending habit ended in a stalemate this year, the federal government spent billions of dollars in 2011 on some unusual projects. And according to a new report from Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, $6.5 billion of it was wasted.

The list includes more than $100,000 on a video game “preservation” center, $120 million in salaries to dead employees and $15.3 million for one of the infamous Bridges to Nowhere — all in a year when the federal deficit rose by nearly $2 trillion.

Coburn’s “Wastebook 2011″ report lists 100 of the most egregious spending boondoggles.

Here are the top 10 most ridiculous things the federal government paid for this year:

10. $764,825 for a study on how college students use cell phones and social media

The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Notre Dame this grant to study the mobile and social media habits of college freshmen. We can tell you exactly how college freshmen use mobile phones and social media: for 3 a.m. texts and phone calls to that girl in American History. We could have saved the government a lot of money. Just ask us.

9. $136,555 for teachers to retrace Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in England

Ads by GoogleThis grant, awarded to teachers from Kent State and Eastern Illinois Universities, allowed Middle English lit fanatics to take the trip outlined in Canterbury Tales. We’re betting £10 that the tour guides just make up half of the landmarks.

8. $55,660 on butter packaging

Kriemhild Dairy Farms received this chunk of change to package their grass-fed cow butter. The funding isn’t the only thing that’s too big: The butter itself is 85 percent fat.

7. $606,000 for a study about online dating

Columbia University researchers received over a half-million dollars to study online dating. Maybe the Ivy League nerds who conducted this study should put down the lab coats and go to a bar — or at least the library.

6. $484,000 for a pizza restaurant

Arlington, Texas has one more beer and pizza joint, thanks to this grant to a private developer. The groovy Mellow Mushroom, a national chain, is known for its hippie theme.

5. $48,700 towards the Second Annual Hawaii Chocolate Festival

These funds were awarded to promote Hawaii’s chocolate industry. The Aloha State is already full of sandy beaches, clear blue water, and sun. Why do they get all the good stuff? (That’s the mayor of Hershey, Pennsylvania on Line 1.)

4. $147,138 to build a magic museum

Maybe the wizards at the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Mich., can make the federal deficit disappear. The grant was awarded to promote the “history of magic entertainment.”

3. $96,000 on iPads for kindergarteners

One school district in Maine was awarded this grant to buy every kindergarten student the latest Apple gadget. These kids can’t add yet, but thanks to Uncle Sam they’ll never need to.

2. $175,587 for a study on the link between cocaine and the mating habits of quail

The funding for this super-important scientific study is down from its 2010 level of $181,406. But we think the amount is ridiculous for research that proves what the film “Blow” already did: that cocaine is linked to high-risk sexual activity.

1. $130,987 for dragon robots

We think the phrase “dragon robots” sounds pretty cool. But when their purpose is to help develop preschoolers’ vocabulary, that’s when we get a little worried. The National Science Foundation will spend nearly $1 million over four years to determine if the dragon-shaped robot can enhance toddlers’ learning skills — because Elmo and Barney are just so 1990s.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/20/top-ten-government-spending-at-its-stupidest/ [/B]

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posted December 22, 2011 02:58 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by katatonic:
wow ami you really are an ace at copying other people's posts.

is there some point to it though?

---

How quickly you turn when people are not on your side.

posted December 23, 2011 01:25 AM            

"The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) received over $100,000 in federal funds for video game preservation. According to the organization‘s website, it collects, studies, and interprets video games, other electronic games, and related materials and
the ways in which electronic games are changing how people play, learn, and connect with each other, including across boundaries of culture and geography.
The center‘s collection includes over 35,000 video games and a wide variety of items related to the history of electronic games. Examples of arcade video games in the collection include Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong. The video game compilation also includes Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and Doom.
According to the grant notification, the $113,277 in federal funds will be used to conduct a detailed conservation survey of approximately 6,900 of the 17,000 e-games in [the museum‘s] collection to determine the current condition of both the physical artifacts and their virtual content.The study is designed to better position the museum to make its International Center
for the History of Electronic Games collection available to visitors, researchers, and a broad public audience by providing images, videos of e-game play, and interpretation of the collection
via exhibits and the Online Collections feature of its Web site. Admission to the museum costs an adult $13.54"

http://www.icheg.org/collections

http://www.icheg.org/see-do

Horrifying. And made moreso because it turns out that the Institute for Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency, awarded the grant. http://www.imls.gov/ Funny, huh? Someone at the IMLS is aiding and abetting the enemy. Anyway, while I understand that their grant money is funded by federal appropriations budgets, wouldn't the IMLS' grants officers be responsible for reviewing and awarding the grant requests? In other words, how does this become a democrat/republican issue? Is everyone on the IMLS review board a democrat?

posted December 23, 2011 11:16 AM            

There are some who would like to spread the manure that this was/is a bipartisan effort to line the pockets of political campaign contributors...like Unions..which were bailed out, like city and state governments which were bailed out, among others. But, that's not true.

The bill which funded most of this wasteful crap didn't get a single republican vote in the House and only 3 republican votes in the Senate...2 from the usual RINO suspects Collins and Snow from Maine and 1 from the RINO republican Arlen Specter...who lost his Senate seat.

There's no question that large sums of money from the public treasury are being spent stupidly, most of the stupidly spent money was voted to be spent by demoscats and worse, not only was the money spent stupidly but in many, if not most cases, there was and is a "political" component to whom the pork was ladled out.

In other words, almost a trillion dollars, 40% of it borrowed money, was spent by demoscats, mostly to buy votes and/or reward demoscat campaign contributors.

Let's hear no more about this "stimulus bill" spending being bipartisan.

This is the record...roll call votes from the House and Senate.

Roll call vote on economic stimulus
The 246-183 roll call Friday by which the House passed a $787 billion economic stimulus bill.

A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the measure.

Voting yes were 246 Democrats and no Republicans.

Voting no were seven Democrats and 176 Republicans.
http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2009/02/roll_call_vote_on_economic_sti.html

Senate Roll Call: How they voted on stimulus bill

The 60-38 roll call by which the Senate on Friday passed an $787 billion economic recovery plan.

Voting "yes" were 55 Democrats, 3 Republicans and 2 independents.

Voting "no" were 0 Democrats and 38 Republicans
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/02/13/2433466-senate-roll-call-how-they-voted-on-stimulus-bill

That's a $Trillion..with interest..straight down the toilet which had zero positive effect on unemployment but was billed by demoscats as...a JOBS bill. After spending a trillion dollars, unemployment is higher than it was when the so called stimulus bill was passed by demoscats in 2009.

After looking at the boondoggles on which the money was spent...not to mention the $billions spent on "green" boondoggles" to payoff O'Bomber's major campaign contributors; any rational person would conclude this was a raid on the public treasury by demoscats.

posted December 23, 2011 01:25 PM            

Colburn's strongest words are about his cohorts, the 2011 Congress:

"So perhaps there was no bigger waste of the taxpayer‘s money in 2011 than Congress itself. The dismal 9 percent approval rating, the lowest ever recorded, would indicate the vast majority of Americans would agree."
http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=b6 9a6ebd-7ebe-41b7-bb03-c25a5e194365

quote:

---

Let me remind you that most..if not all the wasted money listed in these "projects" came from the misnamed pork laden $787B so called stimulus bill.

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posted December 23, 2011 03:02 PM            

There's no question the stimulus money was spent and is still being spent stupidly acoustic.

Also no question that the majorities in both Houses of Congress were demoscats from January 2007 to January 2011 or that O'Bomber who infests the White House since January 2009 is a demoscat. No question into whose hands those so called stimulus funds were entrusted to be spent and they ALL work for Barack Hussein O'Bomber in the Executive Branch of Government.

posted December 23, 2011 03:20 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by jwhop:
You're welcome Randall...though I think you already knew all this.

There's no question the stimulus money was spent and is still being spent stupidly acoustic.

Also no question that the majorities in both Houses of Congress were demoscats from January 2007 to January 2011 or that O'Bomber who infests the White House since January 2009 is a demoscat. No question into whose hands those so called stimulus funds were entrusted to be spent and they ALL work for Barack Hussein O'Bomber in the Executive Branch of Government.

So, the spin you're attempting to put on this topic is making you dizzy...but no one else!

---

------------------
Passion,Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted December 23, 2011 05:05 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by shura:
Ok, let me see if I can get this straight. The Institute of Museum and Library Services approves a grant to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, which, lo and behold, highlights products owned by Microsoft. Not so coincidentally, Microsoft was one of the top 5 financial contributers to Obama's 2008 campaign. So what you're saying is Obama pressured some faceless pencil pusher at the IMLS to approve this grant because it would politically and/or financially benefit his pals at Microsoft. Have I got that right?

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posted December 23, 2011 08:19 PM            

why is it that when a republican mogul gives money to someone it's only reasonable that he should, for instance, get to decide who can teach in the college that received that money...

posted December 23, 2011 11:21 PM            

You MAY have that right. I don't know and neither do you!

Nevertheless, I usually try to not make all encompassing statements. That's the reason I said this..."not only was the money spent stupidly but in many, if not most cases, there was and is a "political" component to whom the pork was ladled out."

But there's a bigger issue involved in all this federal spending of taxpayer money.

The so called stimulus bill was sold as a Jobs bill..presumably to put Americans back to work. Remember all those "shovel ready" infrastructure projects just awaiting funding? That was a rationale used to convince Americans to support O'Bomber's Stimulus Bill...and it never happened. Later, we had O'Bomber joke that those "shovel ready" projects weren't as "shovel ready" as he had thought. The money got spent anyway and there were few Jobs created by the spending of $787B. For those which were created, the average cost to taxpayers to create them exceeded $250,000 each and some cost taxpayers more than $1,000,000 each.

Don't think I'm picking on The Institute of Museum and Library Services but is this something on which the federal government should be spending $262,500,000 per year? Where's the Constitutional authority to spend a penny?

The federal budget is liberally seeded with
departments within agencies which someone at some time thought were worthy causes. I doubt there's 2 people in the federal government who could list them all...or deliver even a short blurb on what they're supposed to be doing. For most of those, there's no Constitutional authority for their existence.

You have a very good memory so...I'm sure you remember my comment that I would take a chainsaw and prune the federal government down to a shadow of it's former self.

“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”
¯ James Madison

acoustic, it's not my week to keep track of Tom Colburn or read his mind to find out why Colburn didn't lay the facts straight out and tag demoscats with the spending stupidity...as I did.

Perhaps one reason is that of Senatorial decorum. Hairy Reed, Chuck Shyster and other demoscat dingbats are generally referred to..by other Senators as "my very good friend....."