Unquestionably, this week was a banner week for the discussion of government spending. Between the funding of duck genitalia studies, millions in excessive catfish inspections, and an Obama budget which adds a trillion in new taxes with pennies on the dollar in spending cuts, it’s also been a provocative one. To wit:
- CNSNews.com this week launched Waste Watch, a section of the popular news site dedicated to newly reported instances of ridiculous spending by the federal government, including at launch $400,000 to study duck genitalia, $700,000 for gardening at the U.S. NATO Ambassador’s residence in Belgium, and $2.1 million last year to literally study what animals are thinking. Given our heritage in the earmark battle, we welcome this new window for the public into the ridiculous things we spend our money on.
- President Obama revealed his long-awaited budget on Wednesday, proposing the addition of $8.2 trillion in new debt, $1.1 trillion in new taxes, and only $119 billion in “deficit reduction,” according to the House Budget Committee. With these jokes for numbers, we are clearly not fans.
-And, finally, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released its duplication report on tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money that could be potentially saved through the elimination of duplicate programs. This comes after the efforts of taxpayer heroes like Senator Tom Coburn who has been leading the charge against government waste for his entire career.
This budget battle will not be short and we’ll be providing updates and commentary along the way. In the interim, feel secure in the knowledge that our government is spending your hard earned cash on figuring out what’s on your Golden Retriever’s mind.
