Senator Tom Coburn, M.D.October 2012
W
ASTEBOOK
2012
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 11.
The most unproductive and unpopular Congress in modern history
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(Congress) $132 million ................................................................................................ 42.
Professional sports loophole
–
(Taxes) $91 million .......................................... 73.
OH SNAP! Junk food, luxury drinks, soap operas, and billions of dollarsin improper food stamp payments
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(Department of Agriculture) $4.5billion ................................................................................................................................... 104.
Oklahoma keeps unused airport open to collect federal checks
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(OK)$450,000 ............................................................................................................................ 135.
Moroccan pottery classes
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(U.S. Agency for International Development)$27 million ........................................................................................................................ 156.
Out-of-this-world Martian food tasting
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(HI) $947,000 .............................. 177.
When robot squirrels attack
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(CA) $325,000 ................................................... 208.
USDA’s caviar dreams –
(ID) $300,000 ................................................................. 229.
Bailed out tourist boat sinking private business
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(AK) $3.3 million ...... 2410.
Phantom, unused grant accounts draw fees
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(Department of Health andHuman Services) $2 million ....................................................................................... 28
W
ASTEBOOK
2012
1Dear Taxpayer,Times remain tough in America. The number of people working has dropped to the lowest level in decades. More than 23 million of our fellow citizens do not have good jobs, andwages for many others are stagnant and even declining.
1
Families are struggling to domore with less.
But not everyone in America is living on a smaller budget. Washington politicians don’t
even bother to give themselves a budget anymore. For the third consecutive year,Congress failed to pass a budget. And, for thefourth straight year, these compulsive spenderscharged more than $1 trillion to our nationalcredit card, pushing us to a $16 trillion debt.Some try to rationalize the excessive borrowingand spending as necessary until the economygets back on track. But the increased demandfor help is precisely why Washington must bemore careful how tax dollars are spent to ensurewe can care for those who are truly in need. Todo this Washington must set priorities, just likeevery family. The problem is Washington has allthe wrong priorities.Thousands, millions and even billions of dollarsin an annual budget in excess of $3.7 trillionmay not seem like much to Washingtonpoliticians, but these days a dollar can make abig difference for families on fixed budgets.How many of our friends, families andneighbors could be fed with the nearly $1million the government spent taste testing foodsto be served on the planet Mars? How many nutritious school lunches could have beenserved with the $2 million in financial assistance provided to cupcake specialty shops?Washington priorities are backwards. This is why important programs go bankrupt whileoutdated and outlandish projects continue to be funded.
As you read each of the 100projects costing over $18billion outlined in thisreport, ask yourself:
Can we can afford thisat this time?
Could this money havebeen better spent, ornot spent at all?
Is this a nationalpriority or is thissomething benefiting aspecial interest?
Does this fit the role of the federal government,as outlined in the U.S.Constitution?
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Wastebook 2012: A report of some of the year's most wasteful government spending by Senator Tom Coburn
In his fourth annual oversight report, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released "Wastebook 2012," a report highlighting more than $18 billion in examples of some of the m...
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