by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News December 25, 2024
In the last fiscal year, $15.5 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars went to promote electric vehicles that Americans "don't want." Another $10 billion was shelled out to lease, maintain, and furnish office buildings for government workers who have been working from home since the Covid pandemic hit.
Those are just a few of the many grievances Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul aired out on Dec. 23 in his annual "Festivus Report."
“This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12,” Paul said in the report. “That’s over $1 trillion in government waste. ... No matter how much money the government has wasted, politicians keep demanding even more.”
Paul said he will work with President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — which is looking to cut $2 trillion in annual government waste.
“Who’s to blame for our crushing national debt? Everybody,” he said. “This year, members of both political parties in Congress voted for massive spending bills, filled with subsidies for underperforming industries, continued military aid to Ukraine, and controversial climate initiatives.”
“As Congress spends to reward its favored pet projects, the American taxpayers are forced to pay through high prices and crippling interest rates,” Paul said.
From tens of billions to ten thousand, here are just a few of the ways Paul says the government wasted your money over the past year:
• $90 billion for ineffective U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ships, which the report renames “Little Crappy Ships.”
• The Treasury Department granted a failed trucking company a $700 million pandemic-era loan.
• $20 million on a Sesame Street spinoff called “Ahlan Simsim” in Iraq to promote “inclusion” and “mutual respect.”
• The Department of the Interior spent $12 million on the Las Vegas Pickleball Complex.
• The State Department spent $3 million for "Girl-Centered Climate Action" ... in Brazil.
• $2.1 million for border security ... in Paraguay.
• $123,066 to teach Kyrgyzstan youth how to go viral.
• $10,000 to the Bearded Ladies Cabaret for a climate change-themed ice-skating performance titled Beards on Ice.
“Spending $10k on drag ice skating may feel like a drop in the bucket, but every dollar counts when our country is facing serious issues and massive debt,” Paul said. “Supporters will argue it brings climate awareness to the masses, but detractors will see it as an over-the-top vanity project funded by federal dollars.”
The Department of Health and Human Services awarded New York University a $2 million grant to study kids looking at Facebook ads about food.
“While the well-being of our youth is undoubtedly a top priority, the necessity of such a study might raise a few eyebrows, especially considering that similar research has consistently arrived at the same conclusion: there is a notable link between food advertising and the eating behaviors of young people,” the report said. “In a world brimming with challenges to the safety and health of our children, one must question the necessity of a deeper understanding of Doritos’ Facebook ad strategies.”
Paul noted: "The same big spenders teamed up, yet again, to continue sending Americans’ hard-earned money to foreign countries, funding endless wars, all while STILL ignoring our wide-open southern border. And our mountain of debt will continue to pile even higher. The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $2.1 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. According to a July House Budget Committee Report, the U.S. government will add over $6.4 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years, borrowing over $268 million every hour, $4.5 million every minute, and over $74,401 every second."
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