Many people remember the millions spent on the
infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” But how about the millions of dollars in federal
spending on caviar promotion, keeping empty bank accounts open, and creating
“Star Trek” parody videos? Yes, those are a few examples of your tax dollars at
work.
The following 10 examples of government waste are
the punch line in “Federal Spending by the Numbers — 2013,” a new report by the
Heritage Foundation that breaks down federal government spending trends. As our
report shows, there is plenty of fat to trim from the federal budget:
1. In 2010, the Internal Revenue Service spent $4.1
million on a conference for 2,609 employees, who received “swag” worth $64,000,
free meals and cocktails, and hotel suite upgrades. Let’s not forget the
$50,000 line-dancing and those “Star Trek” parody videos, either.
2. The federal government spends $890,000 a year
just to keep 13,712 empty bank accounts open. That comes to $65 per year, per
account.
3. Sorry parents, but prom night just got more
expensive. The National Science Foundation spent $500,000 on developing a video
game that simulates a high school prom.
4. While a fine Bordeaux wine or Picasso painting
may increase in value over time, unused Transportation Security Administration
equipment does not. The agency left 5,700 pieces of security equipment, such as
baggage-screening machines, sitting idle in a warehouse for months — in some
cases, years on end. The warehouse costs $3.5 million a year to lease and
manage.
5. Though the TSA spends $1.8 million a year to
lease 440,000 square feet of storage space in three warehouses in Texas, it
left 72,074 square feet unused. That’s more square footage than a football
field or in the White House.
6. The federal government spent $300,000 in 2012 to
encourage caviar consumption. Seriously.
7. Amtrak, the federally subsidized passenger-rail
service, only earned 44 cents on the dollar for the food and beverages it
offers on long-distance routes. Those routes are also money losers. You have to
wonder: Could McDonald’s or Starbucks sustain such losses and stay in business?
8. Poor oversight resulted in 1,000 prisoners in
Pennsylvania collecting weekly unemployment benefits over a four-month period,
to the tune of $7 million.
9. The Department of Health and Human Services awarded
$340 million in loans to Freelancers Insurance Co. to establish health care
co-ops under Obamacare. Regulators ranked the company dead last among New York
state’s insurance companies.
10. The Office of Naval Research spent $450,000 on a
study that concluded unintelligent robots cannot keep a baby’s attention. While
such waste can be found in the defense budget, any resulting savings should be
reinvested to sustain current defense capabilities and modernize the military.
Next to the country’s $16.7 trillion debt, these
waste examples may seem like chump change, but cutting waste would build
momentum for reforming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — programs that
make up the bulk of the federal budget and drive the nation’s spending.
In the coming months, lawmakers will have multiple
opportunities — the debate over government spending for 2014, and the debate
over increasing the government’s borrowing limit — to scale back government
spending on both small and big-ticket items.
Inaction only means that more debt will be piled
onto the shoulders of our children and grandchildren. It’s time for lawmakers
to rise to the occasion and stop parroting tired excuses.
About the author: Emily Goff is a researcher in the
Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation.
This article was published by the Heritage
Foundation.
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