The latest budget deal, passed by a bipartisan majority in both the
House and the Senate, suggests that Washington agrees with House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when she said that “the cupboard is bare. There’s no more cuts to make.”
The cupboard, however, is overflowing with liquor, crystal glassware, and more.
Here is our list of the top 10 examples of wasteful government
spending this year, serving as a reminder that there is no shortage of
excessive spending in Washington.
10. Outhouse in Alaska: $98,670.
The Interior Department spent nearly $100,000 to install an outhouse on
an Alaskan trail, which includes a single toilet with no internal
plumbing.
9. A bus stop with heated pavement for the Washington area: $1 million. A lavish bus stop with heated pavement was built in Arlington, VA, but it has failed to keep commuters warm or dry.
8. Grant for a pole dancing performance: $10,000.
Utility poles, that is. The National Endowment for the Arts provided a
grant to PowerUP for Austin Energy employees to perform an artsy dance
with 20 utility poles, accompanied by a live orchestra.
7. Pizza — from a printer: $124,995. NASA gave a six-figure grant to a company that aspires to make pizza from a 3-D printer.
6. Study to find out if couples are happier when the woman calms down after argument: $335,525.
“[M]arriages that were the happiest were the ones in which the wives
were able to calm down quickly during marital conflict,” found a study
of 81 couples funded by the National Institutes of Health.
5. Booze and crystal for the State Department: $5.4 million. The State Department went on a bender the week before the government shutdown, purchasing $5 million of “exquisite” crystal glassware to presumably drink the $400,000 in booze they purchased in 2013.
4. Monitoring depression on Twitter: $82,000. The National Institutes of Health is funding a study “to use Twitter for surveillance on depressed people,” according to the Free Beacon.
3. Seven-figure stack of rocks at the London Embassy: $1 million.
The American Embassy in London will be receiving a granite sculpture
from an artist “whose work resembles stacked piles of paving stones,”
according to the Daily Mail.
2. Artwork for Veterans Affairs offices: $562,000. The Department of Veterans Affairs went on a spending spree during “use it or lose it” season, purchasing over half a million in artwork and millions in furniture in a single week.
1. Government employee trip to luxury hotel in the Caribbean: priceless.
Federal employees took a taxpayer-funded trip to the Buccaneer Hotel in
St. Croix—the same hotel made famous on TV’s “The Bachelor.” The bill
was divided among a number of agencies, making a final tally difficult
to come by.
Read More: Heritage
As
of January 1st, 2014, Colorado became the first state in the nation to
allow adults aged 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana for
recreational use. The decision has led to excessively large lines at pot
shops across the state and store owners reportedly surpassed $1 million
in sales statewide on just the first day according to Denver’s 9News. -
See more at:
http://conservativefrontline.com/colorado-pot-shop-accept-food-stamps-taxpayer-funded-marijuana-welfare-recipients/#sthash.qkRiGdZa.dpuf
As
of January 1st, 2014, Colorado became the first state in the nation to
allow adults aged 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana for
recreational use. The decision has led to excessively large lines at pot
shops across the state and store owners reportedly surpassed $1 million
in sales statewide on just the first day according to Denver’s 9News. -
See more at:
http://conservativefrontline.com/colorado-pot-shop-accept-food-stamps-taxpayer-funded-marijuana-welfare-recipients/#sthash.qkRiGdZa.dpuf
