Courtesy of http://dirtyspendingsecrets.com/
Sure wouldn’t want to cut any of these fine programs.
- Incredibly, Washington is spending $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.
- Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a picture of a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737
- Federal employees cost taxpayers $146 million each year when they upgrade to business class flights. The Government Accountability Office found that more than half of these upgrades were not properly authorized.
- The government has spent $3 billion to re-sand our nation’s beaches. Advocates claim this prevents erosion and keeps the beaches attractive to tourists. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the sand does nothing to prevent erosion—and this sand gets swept out to sea just as easily as existing sand!
Pick your favorite …
The Homa Files 
July 27, 2011 at 10:38 am |
I think its important in this debate to understand exactly what needs to be paid out next month and what the cash on hand to pay it is. What’s missing is also knowing that:
a) the President’s job is to pay for what Congress wants
b) the President is not permitted to prioritize, as that would mimic a line-item veto
Also, that website’s use of the word ‘recently’ is suspect. Most of that money has been spent and has nothing to do with what can get paid next month (with the exception of the implied interest from the debt).
For example, the Alaska Airlines item happened in 2005. It was part of $29m (!) in congressional funding to the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board and was pushed through by Ted Stevens (R). Ben Stevens, Ted’s son, was on the board of the AFMB AND also happened to be the State Senate President. Further investigation found that he had received ~$1m from Alaska businesses for guiding government money their way.
After this item came to light, he was censured by the Republican state congress and fined a whopping $150 dollars.
I think its fair to say that congress (BOTH parties) needs to stop blowing money and should focus instead on the long-term health of the country. Your post the other day was great in isolating some of the major issues. Seems like defense and entitlements have risen too high while taxes have fallen too low. Conclusion, debt rises and future is mortgaged.
July 27, 2011 at 11:51 am |
I did some more research and conveniently the NYT has a great article on it, and the Bipartisan Policy Center has a fantastic breakdown of the income and cash outlays needed in August.
Click to access Debt%20Ceiling%20Analysis%20FINAL.pdf