[Silver Swords]

Government Waste: 20 Of The Craziest Things That The U.S. Government Is Spending Money On

Published on 12-21-2010

Source: The Economic Collapse


You are not going to believe some of the things that the U.S. government is spending money on. According to a shocking new report, U.S. taxpayer money is being spent to study World of Warcraft, to study how Americans find love on the Internet, and to study the behavior of male prostitutes in Vietnam. Not only that, but money from the federal government is also being used to renovate a pizzeria in Iowa and to help a library in Tennessee host video game parties. These are just some of the examples in a new report on government waste from Senator Tom Coburn entitled “Wastebook 2010“. Even as tens of millions of American families find themselves suffering through the worst economic downturn in modern history, the U.S. government continues to spend money on some of the craziest and most frivolous things imaginable. Every single year articles are written and news stories are done about the horrific government waste that is taking place and yet every single year it just keeps getting worse. So just what in the world is going on here?

It almost seems as though Congress actually enjoys inventing new ways to waste U.S. taxpayer money. It seems nearly inconceivable that anyone could keep a straight face while trying to justify spending money on many of the things in the list below.

At a time when the U.S. national debt is closing in on 14 trillion dollars, government waste just seems more out of control than ever. The following are 20 of the craziest things that the U.S. government is spending money on….

#1 A total of $3 million has been granted to researchers at the University of California at Irvine so that they can play video games such as World of Warcraft. The goal of this “video game research” is reportedly to study how “emerging forms of communication, including multiplayer computer games and online virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life can help organizations collaborate and compete more effectively in the global marketplace.”

#2 The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the University of New Hampshire $700,000 this year to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows.

#3 $615,000 was given to the University of California at Santa Cruz to digitize photos, T-shirts and concert tickets belonging to the Grateful Dead.

#4 A professor at Stanford University received $239,100 to study how Americans use the Internet to find love. So far one of the key findings of this “research” is that the Internet is a safer and more discreet way to find same-sex partners.

#5 The National Science Foundation spent $216,000 to study whether or not politicians “gain or lose support by taking ambiguous positions.”

#6 The National Institutes of Health spent approximately $442,340 to study the behavior of male prostitutes in Vietnam.

#7 Approximately $1 million of U.S. taxpayer money was used to create poetry for the Little Rock, New Orleans, Milwaukee and Chicago zoos. The goal of the “poetry” is to help raise awareness on environmental issues.

#8 The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs spent $175 million during 2010 to maintain hundreds of buildings that it does not even use. This includes a pink, octagonal monkey house in the city of Dayton, Ohio.

#9 $1.8 million of U.S. taxpayer dollars went for a “museum of neon signs” in Las Vegas, Nevada.

#10 $35 million was reportedly paid out by Medicare to 118 “phantom” medical clinics that never even existed. Apparently these “phantom” medical clinics were established by a network of criminal gangs as a way to defraud the U.S. government.

#11 The Conservation Commission of Monkton, Vermont got $150,000 from the federal government to construct a “critter crossing”. Thanks to U.S. government money, the lives of “thousands” of migrating salamanders are now being saved.

#12 In California, one park received $440,000 in federal funds to perform “green energy upgrades” on a building that has not been used for a decade.

#13 $440,955 was spent this past year on an office for former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert that he rarely even visits.

#14 One Tennessee library was given $5,000 in federal funds to host a series of video game parties.

#15 The U.S. Census Bureau spent $2.5 million on a television commercial during the Super Bowl that was so poorly produced that virtually nobody understood what is was trying to say.

#16 A professor at Dartmouth University received $137,530 to create a “recession-themed” video game entitled “Layoff”.

#17 The National Science Foundation gave the Minnesota Zoo over $600,000 so that they could develop an online video game called “Wolfquest”.

#18 A pizzeria in Iowa was given $60,000 to renovate the pizzeria’s facade and give it a more “inviting feel”.

#19 The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave one enterprising group of farmers $30,000 to develop a tourist-friendly database of farms that host guests for overnight “haycations”. This one sounds like something that Dwight Schrute would have dreamed up.

#20 Almost unbelievably, the National Institutes of Health was given $800,000 in “stimulus funds” to study the impact of a “genital-washing program” on men in South Africa.

[C.M.M.LynXIII]

Uhhh, the government is spending money on science, culture, education and environment. They are soooo evil. Now when your done with your rant, go vote Sarah Palin, I bet it helps

[[#!]PureFilth]

LynXIII, on 12 January 2011 - 05:21 PM, said:

Uhhh, the government is spending money on science, culture, education and environment. They are soooo evil. Now when your done with your rant, go vote Sarah Palin, I bet it helps

It's clearly an article from somewhere, chillax'

[Jimmyjazz]

besides the facts that most of these projects make perfect sence... those are peanuts, noone cares about those few dollars. one day(!) of war in irak cost the us more than all that together.

[eazteregg]

But it still is a lot of money that could be used for better things.

[C.M.M.LynXIII]

I may have overreacted a bit.
Still, keep politics out of Urban terror kkthxbye

Edit: removed "useless topic" part because it IS the offtopic forum. :-P

This post has been edited by LynXIII: 13 January 2011 - 09:06 AM

[iShotYou-]

^Trollol? Not a smart post.
This is the offtopic forum.
Anywas fun facts : D LOL, the last one.

[I -Q- I]

nuke the qoverNmenT

hear hear

[Silver Swords]

LynXIII, on 12 January 2011 - 11:22 PM, said:

I may have overreacted a bit.
Still, keep politics out of Urban terror kkthxbye

Edit: removed "useless topic" part because it IS the offtopic forum. :-P

a better edit =P but no worries.. we've all had our "look like troll" moments. =)



ishotyou, i sat there rereading #20 several times, couldn't believe it. =))

[~SG~Speckknoedelsup]

Silver Swords, on 13 January 2011 - 06:13 PM, said:

ishotyou, i sat there rereading #20 several times, couldn't believe it. =))

rereading the same information on and on usually doesn't help much...

I do agree that #20 "Almost unbelievably, the National Institutes of Health was given $800,000 in “stimulus funds” to study the impact of a “genital-washing program” on men in South Africa" is a waste of money, and i have a specific reason for that.

Every few years there happen to be a "medical" research in some african state that tries to prove that circumsion of male reduces the likelyhood of spreading the HIV virus due to hygenic improvement, those researches claim to apply the scientific method and always have a positiv outcome that states that circumcision does reduce the spread of the HIV virus. However does study don't pass any peer review done by any scientific research group from europe, and i do believe the original claims are religiously driven and the researches are a fraud.
However assuming that circumcision actually does reduce the chance of spreading aids, this also would have to be achievable by improving the hygene, and thats what this particular research of the NIH is about.
If indeed it would support the claim that circumcision reduces the infection risk of HIV (which i don't think it will) it would indeed be worth those 800,000 bugs. So the reason i think its wasted money is cause i believe (just to avoid the term know here) the whole "circumcision reduces HIV spread" is uterly bullshit driven by religios regimes and enforced by a few corrupt scientist.

For the Wastereport 2010 by the republican senator Tom Coburn, well its his opinion that money on researches and preservation of cultural artwork is wasted, i don't share that opinion.
Even though his sources seem to be reliable and correct i do critic the way he spins information by quotemining out of context and adding opinions in order to make some of it look totaly ridiculous or to imply things.

wastebook 2010 said:

14. European Junket - (Vienna, Austria) $465,000
In July, nearly half a million dollars in
taxpayer money81 went to the XVIII
International AIDS Conference in Vienna,
where wine tasting and castle tours were
among the events planned for the
conference participants.

So the actual sceduled topics discussed in the conference are worth a "among the events planned" while wine tasting and a sight seeing tour is neccasary to mention in order to point out that money is wasted.
Well i'd call that polemic.

I simply disagree with most of the points the wastereport 2010, but more than that i do critic the way information got (mis)presented.