Wasteful Government Spending is Robbing Taxpayers
Over the last eight years, our media has provided example after example of wasteful government spending. Of course, each example was blamed on Republicans. This year, few news reports are even mentioning wasteful government spending, even though the government has passed massive spending bills. Fiscal Year 2009’s spending report highlights multiple examples of wasteful government spending.
$14.6 million for brown snake tree control. Over the last ten years, Representatives Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Madeline Bordallo (D-Guam) have brought home $14.6 mllion in earmarks for brown snake tree control. In Fiscal Year 2009, they received $1.2 million alone. Are brown snakes such a problem that they are worth $14.6 million? $1.2 million is a great example of wasteful government spending, let alone $14.6 over ten years!
$50k to replace trees. In fiscal year 2009, Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich) asked for $50k to replace trees. No, these trees were not in a federal park or even disaster area. These trees were in River Rouge, Michigan. United States Census shows that River Rouge, Michigan is a town of less than 10,000 people. With all federal government expenditures, the question is “Why should a taxpayer in California pay to replace trees in Michigan?” How would Representative Kilpatrick answer this question?
Military spending has been a source of contention. News media outlets regularly run stories about war spending. What they do not tell us is other places the government spends money on the military. After all, non-war spending does not meet their agenda. Senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), and Representative Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) requested $30,000,000 for Phase Five of an access road. The access road is being built at Pohakuloa Training Area. Keep in mind, this is Phase Five of an access road. The other four phases already cost $74.4 million.
Veterans benefits and military spending have received a large amount of attention. Our military veterans deserve the best benefits money can buy. This spending story has nothing to do with veterans benefits. It is about a request for money to build a dining hall. Representative Louise Slaughter joined then Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in requesting $9 million to build a dining hall at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.
And last but not least, lets end this with an extremely wasteful way to spend money. We can thank the Department of Agriculture and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee member Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). He requested $1,791,000 for Swine Odor and Manure Management Research in Ames IA. The so called purpose of this bill is to generate and integrate knowledge for evaluation and development of new management practices that minimize nutrient excretion, malodorous emissions, and the release of pathogens into the environment as well as have a positive impact on animal health.
Swine are not the only things that give off stinky manure. Just go into the bathroom after Larry the Cable Guy. Yet, we do not study ways to make human feces smell better. It does not make much since to study why swine manure has an odor. It is not a new problem. Is this really the most important problem and the best use for $1,791,000.
For several years, Department of Defense has worked on a new jet plane. The Joint Strike Fighter would provide America a more advanced piece of military machinery. There is no surprise in this plane. Keeping Americans safe requires that we develop the newest weapons. What is surprising is the jet’s engines. A successful engine has been developed. Congress decided that the engine would be cheaper is there was competition. $465 million was allocated to develop a second engine. Not because the first one did not work, just to make competition. Some would call this wasteful government spending.
There were 435 Representatives and 100 Senators that refused to be identified with this massive waste of taxpayers dollars. Does that tell you something? If the elected officials that we have put in office are ashamed to be connected with an Earmarked Bill such as this, then it makes you wonder why the money was even appropriated for this nonsense. Do we really need to allot $465 million to build engines on a competition level?
