USDA Wasted $2.4 Billion in Food Stamp Money in 2014...

If a private company wasted $2.4 Billion, heads would roll.

Via Washington Free Beacon:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued over $2.4 billion in improper payments on food stamps in fiscal year 2014, according to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG).
In a report detailing the agency’s financial statements for the year, the OIG accounted for improper payments made from the most high-risk Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) programs.
The OIG said the government has been building up the food “safety net” for decades, adding programs so that now one in four Americans now receive federal food assistance.
Keep on reading…

Your Tax dollars at work: HHS pays $146.64 per month per user for email

This is another reason Kathleen Sebelius should have been fired a longtime ago. 

Via WFB:

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spends roughly $123.2 million per year to provide “email services” for its 70,000 employees, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Buried in a footnote of a recently released GAO report on the agency’s coordination with the nonprofit group Enroll America, the congressional watchdog detailed the high operating costs associated with running the department’s email.

“HHS told us that HHS pays $146.64 per month per user for email; that this charge covers connectivity, storage, and other e-mail services; and that this charge is independent of the number of emails that are sent or received,” the GAO said.

According to the Cato Institute, HHS employs approximately 70,000 people.

Keep on reading…

The National Science Foundation spends $700,000 on a climate change musical

I'll bet it was fabulous...

Via Daily Caller:

It looks like the National Science Foundation has been handing out grants for some unorthodox research projects, according to House Republicans.
This includes $700,000 in funding for a climate change musical.
House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith questioned White House science czar John Holdren in a Thursday hearing over whether or not the National Science Foundation (NSF) should have to justify its use of taxpayer dollars to fund projects. Smith pointed out some examples of questionable projects the NSF has funded.

• $700,000 on a climate change musical
• $15,000 to study fishing practices around Lake Victoria in Africa
• $340,000 to examine the “ecological consequences” of early human fires in New Zealand
• $200,000 for a three-year study of the Bronze Age around the Mediterranean
• $50,000 to survey archived 17th Century lawsuits in Peru
• $20,00 to look at the causes of stress in Bolivia

Good News: You are paying Mexican sex workers to use condoms...

It's not like we have a $17 trillion national debt or anything. 

Via CNS News:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is spending $398,213 on a project studying whether paying male Mexican sex workers for being free of sexually transmitted diseases will increase condom use.
The study, “Conditional Economic Incentives to Reduce HIV Risks: A Pilot in Mexico,” began in June 2011 and is funded through the end of May 2014.
“The working hypothesis is that a program with modest economic incentives to stay free of sexually transmitted infections (STI) can be implemented among MSW (male sex workers) to incentivize condom use and reduction of sex partners,” the abstract of the study says. “We hypothesize that CEI (conditional economic incentives) treatment groups will exhibit greater program participation and retention rates as compared to the control group.”
The study includes male sex workers in Mexico City, who first must attend a workshop on the benefits of condom use and “condom negotiation” before they are broken up into smaller groups.
According to the study abstract, one group of 100 individuals will “receive low incentive ($200 pesos/each time) only if they are free of STIs at months 6 and 12.”

The Obama State Department went on a $1,420,000 art buying spree before the shutdown...

"The Black Arch"

Priorities...

(CNSNews.com) - In the days before the October government shutdown, the State Department spent $150,000 on “The Black Arch”, an art installation piece referencing Mecca. [...]
The State Department tells CNSNews.com, “The Black Arch will be installed at the new U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”
“The Black Arch” was one of several artworks that were purchased by the State Department in September of 2013.
In all, $1,420,000 in contracts for artwork were posted Sunday afternoon on the Federal Business Opportunities website.
The largest State Department contract was a million dollars for a “Granite Sculpture by Sean Scully”. The contract was awarded on Sept. 25 to the Waqas Wajahat gallery in New York.
“Granite Sculpture” is designated for installation at the U.S. Embassy in London.

Shameful: Trustees of $600 million underfunded Detroit school pension fund jetting to Hawaii for conference...

This story is typical of what's wrong with Detroit and public employees unions in general...

Four trustees of Detroit’s two public pension funds are heading to a Hawaiian beach resort this weekend with their $22,000 tab paid for by the funds, which are mired in claims of mismanagement and said to be at least $600 million underfunded.

Trustees say the conference provides the education they need to manage complex investments for the funds’ retirees and beneficiaries. But other major public pension systems, including the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, avoided sending their officials to Hawaii because of concerns the exotic locale sends the wrong message at a time when pensions nationwide are contemplating or implementing reduced benefits to cope with rising retirement costs and shaky investment returns.

Records obtained by the Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act show the expenses cover airfare — including a first-class flight for one trustee — lodging at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu, registration fees, meals and a per diem for miscellaneous expenses. Keep on reading...

Report: Obama green jobs cost $11million each...

It's not like we are $16 trillion in debt or anything. Oh, wait a minute...

Via Daily Caller:

Despite the Obama administration’s generous support for green energy, job creation in the sector has both lagged and come at a hefty cost to taxpayers, according to a new report.

According to the Institute for Energy Research, the Department of Energy has spent nearly $26 billion since 2009 on its Section 1703 and 1705 loan programs. However, these two programs only yielded 2,308 permanent jobs — meaning the cost to taxpayers was $11.25 million per job.

“Clearly, in terms of ‘bang for the buck,” government programs that coddle renewable energy are losers,” according to IER. “In terms of jobs, the losers are the American workers who would otherwise be gainfully employed but for the tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars on the administration’s obsession with “green energy.’”

Keep on reading…

Latest waste of your tax dollars: $876,752 to study snail sex...

It's not like there is a sequester or anything. Oh, wait a minute...

(CNSNews.com) – The National Science Foundation awarded a grant for $876,752 to the University of Iowa to study whether there is any benefit to sex among New Zealand mud snails and whether that explains why any organism has sex.

The study, first funded in 2011 and continuing until 2015, will study the New Zealand snails to see if it is better that they reproduce sexually or asexually – the snail can do both – hoping to gain insight on why so many organisms practice sexual reproduction.
“Sexual reproduction is more costly than asexual reproduction, yet nearly all organisms reproduce sexually at least some of the time. Why is sexual reproduction so common despite its costs,” the study’s abstract asks.

Keep on reading….

Outrage: Tribe with billion dollar casino gets $4.5 million for taxpayers...

Democrats still looking for something to cut...

Via ABC News:

The money provided annually to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation through the Interior Department and the Department of Health and Human Services has risen over the last five years to more than $4.5 million, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. One former tribal employee says department leaders were encouraged to offset dwindling resources by seeking more federal grants.

The Pequots, who once distributed stipends exceeding $100,000 annually to adult members, are not alone among gaming tribes seeking more federal aid. Several, including the owner of Foxwoods' rival Connecticut casino, the Mohegan Sun, say they have been pursuing more grants — a trend that critics find galling because the law that gave rise to Indian casinos was intended to help tribes become financially self-sufficient.

Your Tax Dollars At Work: Studying Duck Penis Length...

You can make stuff this stupid up...

(CNSnews.com) – The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $384,949 grant to Yale University for a study on “Sexual Conflict, Social Behavior and the Evolution of Waterfowl Genitalia”, according to the recovery.gov website.

The grant description says,“The project examines how reproductive morphology covaries with season, age, and social environment in a diverse sample of duck species that differ in ecology, territoriality and breeding system.”

The grant was made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package.

The project has been receiving money from the NSF since 2009 and is slated for funding through July of this year.

Your Tax Dollars at Work: 2.7 million to study why lesbians are likely to be drunks...

 Last week we learned tax payers spent $1.5 million to find out why lesbians are more obese than gay men...

(CNSNews.com) – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $2.7 million to study why lesbians are at a higher “risk for hazardous drinking.”

The University of Illinois has received grants since 2009 for its project, “Cumulative Stress and Hazardous Drinking in a Community of Adult Lesbians,” which aims to develop “culturally sensitive” strategies to prevent lesbians from being drunks.

“Studies using both probability and nonprobability samples provide ample evidence of lesbians’ vulnerability to hazardous drinking,” the grant’s description reads. “However, very little is known about the factors that increase lesbians’ risk for hazardous drinking.”
“We propose to build on and extend our study of sexual identity and drinking… to model effects of cumulative stress on hazardous drinking among lesbians.”

Keep on reading…

Stupid: Feds spending $227,437 to find out how National Geographic magazine depicts animals...

This study is more important than education benefits for our military? 

(CNSNews.com) – The federal government is spending $227,437 to investigate how animals have been depicted in National Geographic magazine over a span of 120 years, which federal officials say is an “innovative study” that will examine “images of animals to see how people have changed their view of the natural world.”

The grant was issued March 4 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to Michigan State University to look at how animals were depicted in the science magazine from 1888 to 2008.

“Studies of other popular media representations of animals and human-animal relationships have found that animals are often portrayed as problems or nuisances, and we know that media influences attitudes and behavior,” NSF spokeswoman Deborah Wing told CNSNews.com in a written response to questions about the grant. “Predators like wolves and coyotes have been consistently portrayed as a threat.

Keep on reading…

Taxpayers funded a $325,000 grant for a robotic squirrel. Isn't there a better way to find nuts in the White House?

While democrats and liberals are whining about cutting a measly 2.5% or less from  the federal budget, let's pause a moment and see what they are spending our money on.

Researchers at SDSU used funds from a $325,000 grant provided by the taxpayer-bankrolled National Science Foundation on the invention of a robotic squirrel used for research. This week, Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn lambasted the project as a waste of money exemplifying what needs to be excised from government spending.

"The problem in Washington is politicians are very specific about what we should fund, but not specific about what we should cut. As a result, we are chasing robotic squirrels and countless other low-priority projects over a fiscal cliff," Coburn said in a statement released Monday.

Coburn included SDSU's robotic squirrel as an example in his annual "Wastebook," which this year highlights what he views as $18 billion in examples of taxpayer dollars spent in "egregious ways" in 2012. Other examples cited by Sen. Coburn include Moroccan pottery classes and efforts to promote caviar consumption and production.

The robotic squirrel research proved that squirrels stave off one of their most deadly predators -- the rattlesnake -- by wagging their tails. Researchers at SDSU recreated ground squirrel and rattlesnake interactions in natural environments. 

Having won the war In Afghanistan, Pentagon develops it's own beef jerky...

Hey it only cost $1.5 million. It's not like you can buy beef jerky at any corner convenience store. Oh, wait...

Via Fox News:

Defense spending could be slashed by $68 billion over 10 years if the military stopped spending millions on running grocery stores, operating its own schools and even developing a roll-up version of beef jerky, insists one of the Senate's leading fiscal conservatives. In a new report, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn dubs the Pentagon the "Department of Everything."

 Coburn details how the Pentagon could save money -- vital in a time of rampant federal deficits -- if it eliminated duplicative and excessive programs that have nothing to do with the nation's security. By turns sober and cheeky, the report points out that the Pentagon has spent more than $1 million on the 100-year Starship Project, including $100,000 for a workshop sure to attract Trekkies. One of the discussions was titled "Did Jesus Die for Klingons Too?" [...]

"Beef jerky so good it will shock and awe your taste buds," the report said. "That is the goal of an ongoing Pentagon project, which is attempting to develop its own brand of jerky treats that are the bomb! Only, the money is coming from a program specially created to equip soldiers with the weapons they need." Read more here...

Fail: Government funded Amtrak is losing money selling $10 hamburgers...

Perhaps they should let Chick-fil-A take over.

Via The Times:

Amtrak lost more than $800 million on its food and beverage services over the last 10 years, largely because of waste, employee theft and lack of proper oversight, government auditors have found. [...]

Mr. Alves, who issued a report on the problem last year, estimated that theft by Amtrak food service employees could cost the agency $4 million to $7 million annually. According to charts shown by Republican committee staff members during the hearing, Amtrak charges about $2 for a soft drink, but the cost to taxpayers is about $3.40 when labor is included. A $9.50 hamburger on the train costs taxpayers $16, the charts showed. Labor adds nearly 60 percent to food and beverage costs.

H/T Glenn Reynolds

Shameful: CDC follows up Zombie Survival Guide with Bridezilla Survival Guide

Bridezilla brides, originally uploaded by duncan arsenault.

Obama promised to go through the federal budget line by line and eliminate waste...

(CBS News) Have a bridezilla on your hands? Don't fret: The kind folks at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have provided a handy guide to help you survive the bouquets, long-winded speeches and blushing brides on a wedding day.

The CDC's Wedding Day Survival Guide is similar to the Zombie Survival Guide that it released last year. A bit tongue-in-cheek, the government agency provides tips on how to plan for an emergency like a hurricane during a wedding ceremony or an overly emotional bride.

"You never know when Bridezilla might pop up," the CDC's Caitlin Shockey writes. "When dealing with an emotional bride, try to remember your loved one is probably stressed out and will soon return to her caring self after the wedding is over. Be supportive and have some bottled water from your emergency kit and a box of chocolate on hand."

The Government Overpaid Unemployment Benefits by $14 billion Last year

Because waste stimulates the economy....

Via CNN:

The federal government and states overpaid an estimated $14 billion in benefits in fiscal 2011, or roughly 11% of all the jobless benefits paid out, according to reports from the U.S. Labor Department.

Of the states, Indiana was the worst offender, making more improper payments than it did correct ones. …

But of the overpaid funds, most end up in the hands of three types of people: Those who aren’t actively searching for a job, those who were fired or quit voluntarily, and those who continue to file claims even though they’ve returned to work. Any of those circumstances would make a person ineligible for benefits. 

In much rarer situations, people deliberately defraud the system, using fake documents or identities. Common scams involve prison inmates, illegal immigrants or even the deceased.

Obama jacked up Obamacare spending after SCOTUS arguments

$2.7 billion of your tax dollars flushed down the Obamacare toilet bole.

Via Politico:

Conservatives wanted the White House to stop spending on the health care law until the Supreme Court rules on whether it’s constitutional.

But the administration has forged ahead, spending at least $2.7 billion since oral arguments in the case ended on March 28. That’s more than double the amount that was handed out in the three-month period leading up to the arguments, according to a POLITICO review of funding announcements from the Department of Health and Human Services.

While much — if not all — of this funding was in the pipeline well before March, the timeline for handing out specific funds is not set in stone, which gives the agency leeway over the kinds of dollars it has been handing out.

And the stakes have increased as the date of a Supreme Court ruling approaches, because money that is spent won’t have to be repaid, most likely. But remaining funds will dry up if the court strikes down the law.

The court is expected to announce its decision next week.

The $2.7 billion includes grants and awards that have been handed out since the Supreme Court arguments — including more than $90 million in funds for health insurance cooperatives that HHS announced Friday afternoon.

By contrast, the administration gave out about $1 billion in grants, loans and other awards during the three months before the Supreme Court arguments. Keep on reading...

The Obama administration spent $10 billion to create 355 permanent green energy jobs

An additional 3,666 temporary construction jobs were created. Even if you include the temporary construction jobs, it comes to about $2.5 million per job.

Via WFB:

The Obama administration spent $10 billion to create 355 renewable energy jobs per year, according to testimony offered Tuesday before Congress by a Congressional Research Services expert.

Asked by Rep. Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) “how many jobs were created” in 2009 and 2010 under the 1603 renewable energy grant program authorized by the Obama administration, a CRS specialist in public finance admitted that $10 billion was spent to create 3,666 construction jobs over a two-year period — and only 355 jobs per year going forward.

Dr. Molly Sherlock, the CRS specialist, first said the jobs total would depend on the type of job — and differentiated between “induced,” “direct,” and “indirect” jobs — before Gardner asked for a straight number.

“I just want to know how many jobs were created,” Gardner said during the hearing.

“If you’re looking at the direct jobs, this one estimate has direct jobs created at 3,666 in the construction phase, and direct jobs created at 355,” Sherlock said. “Direct jobs would just be the construction jobs and the ongoing operations and maintenance jobs. But if you wanted to look at the supporting jobs in other industries then you’d want to look at the other figures.”

Keep on reading…

Asinine: Pentagon commissions study about studies

You can't make stuff like this up.

The Pentagon was inundated with so many studies in 2010 that it commissioned a study to determined how much it cost to produce all those studies.

Now the Government Accountability Office has reviewed the Pentagon’s study and concluded in a report this week that it’s a flop.

The study of a study of studies began in 2010 when Defense Secretary Robert Gates complained that his department was “awash in taskings for reports and studies.” He wanted to know how much they cost.

Two years later, the Pentagon review is still continuing, which prompted Congress to ask the GAO to look over the Pentagon’s shoulder. What they found lacked military precision.