Should We Be Concerned?

[bonnie1962]

This is only a small part of insanity paid for by the american taxpayer.  

 

 

 

 

1 The Festivus Report 2024 Happy Festivus! How is 2024 already wrapping up? It feels like we blinked, and history dumped a year’s worth of plot twists on us. Donald Trump dodged two assassination attempts, Vice President Kamala Harris ousted President Biden from the presidential race last minute only to fail spectacularly, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris captured global attention with a brilliant display of breakdancing from our friends in Australia, and November handed control of Congress to the Republicans. Yet, even amid these seismic events, one issue remained unchanged—the ever-mounting national debt. Last Festivus, we bemoaned the national debt nearing $34 trillion. In just a year, Washington’s career politicians and bureaucrats have managed to push it beyond $36 trillion—unsurprisingly, with hardly a second thought. Who’s to blame for our crushing national debt? Everybody. 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. 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. This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12. That’s over $1 trillion in government waste, including things like ice-skating drag queens, a $12 Million Las Vegas pickleball complex, $4,840,082 on Ukrainian influencers, and more! No matter how much money the government has wasted, politicians keep demanding even more. As always, taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but I’ve been fighting government waste like DOGE before DOGE was cool. And I will continue my fight against government waste this holiday season. So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (spending) Grievances! I have a lot of problems with federal spending, and now it’s time to hear all about them! 3 Ghost Towns on the Government's Dime: The federal government spent $10 billion on maintaining, leasing, and furnishing almost entirely empty buildings A Pandemic Plunder: A Florida man stole $8 million in COVID-19 Relief funds to buy an island and more Your Tax Dollars at Play: The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent $12 Million on a Las Vegas Pickleball Complex Taxpayers Fund a Disinformation Index: The Department of State (DOS) wasted $330,000 to fund censorship of nonliberal and conservative media Snack Attack: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a $2 million grant to study kids looking at Facebook ads about food Taxpayers Dollars Down the Drain in Nevis: The Department of State (DOS) spent $108,272 on a non-functioning hotel Direct File Fail: Congress spent $15 million to turn the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into an unconstitutional force to prepare, file, and audit your hard-earned money Oh Rats! HHS Spends Nearly Half a Million on a Depressing Study of Lonely, Starved Rats: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spent $419,470 to determine if lonely rats seek cocaine more than happy rats Hold on to Your Steering Wheels: The Department of Energy (DOE) spent $15.5 billion to push Americans toward electric vehicles they don't want The Influencer Effect Hits Foreign Policy: The Department of State (DOS) squandered $4,840,082 on influencers Cirque du Taxpayer: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) spent $365,000 to promote circuses in city parks Girls Just Wanna Have Funds: The Department of State (DOS) spent $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil A State Department Production Featuring Your Hard-Earned Money: The Department of State (DOS) paid the Royal Film Commission $873,584 for movies in Jordan Goalposts and Grandstanding: The Department of State (DOS) spent $345,434 on football engagement to counter terrorism When Bailouts Go Bust: The United States Department of the Treasury (USDT) granted a failed trucking company a $700 million pandemic-era loan Flocking Together! DEI Takes Flight: The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $288,563 to ensure bird watching groups have safe spaces aka “Affinity Groups” Interest-ingly Wasteful: Americans are paying $892 billion in fiscal year 2024 on the interest on Uncle Sam’s Credit Card Hashtag to Handouts in Ethiopia: The Department of State (DOS) spent $500,000 to expand the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia’s #USInvestsInEthiopians social media campaign to a larger national public relations campaign Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, There Goes Your Tax Dollars Too! The federal government spent $7,026,689 on various magical projects Because Who Needs a Secure U.S. Border, Anyway? The Department of State (DOS) spent $2.1 million for Paraguayan Border Security 4 The High Price of High Line Art: Since 2015 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded $385,000 for art displays on the High Line Money to Manure: The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $20 million on the Fertilize Right Initiative to advance fertilizer use in Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil Fauci Funded Feline COVID Experiments: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spent $2.24 million on COVID experiments Going Viral for World Peace: The Department of State (DOS) is spending $123,066 to teach Kyrgyzstan youth how to go viral Spinning Kittens for Science and Motion Sickness: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $1,513,299 on a study of waste and cruelty Cat-Stipated?: The Department of Defense (DOD) spent $10,851,439 on Orwellian cat experiments More Ducking Waste in Mexico: The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent $720,479 on wetland conservation projects for ducks in Mexico Big Bird Goes to Baghdad: The Agency for International Development (USAID) is spending $20 million on “Ahlan Simsim” a new Sesame Street show in Iraq News We Wish Was Fake: The Department of State (DOS) sent $253,653 to Bosnia to fight “misinformation” Abandon Ship: The Navy Sinks Billions on LCS Vessels: The U.S. Navy is set to waste almost $90 billion on ineffective Navy vessels Dragging Tax Dollars onto Thin Ice: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded the Bearded Ladies Cabaret a $10,000 grant to support a cabaret show on ice skates focused on climate change Taxpayers Get Spun: The Department of State (DOS) allocated $32,596.12 for breakdancing 5 Source: GAO-23-106200 As the average American taxpayers struggle to pay rent, their hard-earned dollars are ironically funneled into more real estate—Uncle Sam's deserted buildings and storage facilities. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlights a glaring inefficiency. Our government senselessly wasted nearly $10 billion on empty offices. i Most federal offices are ghost towns, with 17 out of 24 agencies using only 25% or less of their space in 2023. Even the busiest offices barely reach 50% capacity. This problem predates the pandemic, but COVID-19's telework boom made it worse. These buildings were underused even before we all learned how to unmute ourselves on Zoom. The GAO calculated building capacity based on usable square feet per employee. It found that many of these buildings are just oversized, expensive storage units for empty desks. In addition to the whopping $2 billion annual maintenance cost, the federal government is spending $5 billion on leases. This isn’t a new issue either. In a 2022 waste report, I noted the government spent $1.7 billion on 77,000 empty, unused properties. ii Despite empty offices, the federal government also spent $3.3 billion on highend office commodities between 2020 and 2022. iii To share just a couple examples, while the CDC fear-mongered the American public into closing schools and wearing ineffective masks, it was busy installing solar-powered picnic tables costing a total of $237,960. Source: Disease Control and Prevention, EnerFusion Inc. Another example of this outrageous spending comes from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) $15 million splurge on new furniture even though its offices largely remain empty. The GAO’s findings are a call to action: it’s time to get serious about office space management. Trimming down on unused space and not spending our hard-earned cash to furnish those empty offices could save a bundle, freeing up funds for more pressing needs— like literally anything else. Ghost Towns on the Government's Dime The federal government spent $10 billion on maintaining, leasing, and furnishing almost entirely empty buildings 6 Source: Sweetheart Island, one of the purchases made by fraudster Patrick Parker Walsh. Julio Aguilar / Associated Press Amidst the serene Floridian beauty, a dark tale of modern piracy unfolds. Patrick Parker Walsh, a Florida businessman turned pandemic plunderer, made headlines for his audacious escapades. iv He stole nearly $8 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to buy Sweetheart Island, a private paradise of his own. This bold act of fraud, which led to his sentencing to 66 months in federal prison, sheds light on a saga of taxpayer dollars gone astray and governmental mismanagement. v The court documents illustrate brazen acts of deceit: 16 fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans featuring fictitious employees and companies fabricated out of thin air. These documents outline a staggering $11,950,439 in requested PPP loan funds, of which he managed to obtain $4,996,167. Unsatisfied with one illicit endeavor, he delved into Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs), raking in an extra $2,822,000 through deceptive applications. With little oversight or accountability, the COVID-19 relief programs represented an opportunity for plunder that only Blackbeard could have imagined. Walsh's case is just one jewel in a treasure trove of governmental oversight failures where the swindlers of the pandemic relief programs ran rampant. According to an analysis by the Associated Press, individuals engaged in fraudulent activities potentially stole over $280 billion from COVID-19 relief funding, with an additional $123 billion being squandered or misused. These losses account for approximately 10% of the $4.2 trillion that the U.S. government has allocated thus far for COVID-19 relief aid. Additionally, the AP report provides some illuminating commentary: "Here was this sort of endless pot of money that anyone could access," said Dan Fruchter, chief of the fraud and white-collar crime unit at the U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Washington. vi The real casualty of this isn't just the theft of 8 million dollars but the erosion of trust in government. It's a cautionary tale for Congress and federal agencies: always read the fine print, especially when safeguarding $4.2 trillion of Americans' hard-earned money from the clutches of modern-day pirates. A Pandemic Plunder A Florida man stole $8 million in COVID-19 Relief funds to buy an island and more 7 Source: City of Las Vegas Ah, the federal budget—an enigmatic beast where our hard-earned money transforms into a kaleidoscope of public projects, some of which make us scratch our heads and ask, "Really?" The 2024 Festivus Waste Report shines a spotlight on a grant that's bouncing its way into the hearts of pickleball enthusiasts everywhere: the grand vision of a 30-court regional pickleball complex in Las Vegas, Nevada. vii Apparently, Las Vegas has more pickleball players than Elvis impersonators, and these racket-wielding enthusiasts are running out of places to play. The city's pickleball players are in such a pickle that the federal government has set aside 5.43 acres to ensure they have ample space to serve, volley, and smash their way to pickler fame. viii Not to mention, the architects of this complex aim to put Las Vegas on the global pickleball map by hosting tournaments from local to international levels. Move over "World Series of Poker," there's a new game in town. Source: KSNV However, not everyone in Sin City is happy about this development. According to local news outlet KSNV, “Homeowners had petitioned the city to vote against the agreement and consider moving the complex elsewhere citing concerns about noise nuisance, increased traffic and parking congestion, and an overall decrease in their quality of life and home value.” ix There's irony in a city synonymous with highstakes gambling investing 12 million American tax dollars in pickleball—a sport often associated with retirees looking for a low-stakes, leisurely pastime. In short, you've been pickled!. Your Tax Dollars at Play The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent $12 Million on a Las Vegas Pickleball Complex 8 Source: UnHerd, Clare Melford is co-founder of the 'Global Disinformation Index’ Historically, the largest purveyor of disinformation is the U.S. government, without question. And now, once again, the government has decided to position itself as the ultimate judge of what’s true and what’s not. The latest chapter in this ongoing saga involves the State Department channeling taxpayer dollars into efforts to silence non-liberal and conservative voices. Through the National Endowment for Democracy—a private foundation bankrolled by the State Department—and the Global Engagement Center, $330,000 of your money was handed over to the Global Disinformation Index (GDI). x It’s bad enough the U.S. government is wasting your money, but now they’re using it to undermine your freedom—with the help of GDI, a British organization, no less! With your tax dollars, GDI cooked up a socalled “disinformation index” to blacklist conservative and non-liberal media outlets, effectively making it tougher for them to secure advertising and compete in the marketplace of ideas. These lists were then handed off to Xandr, an advertising firm owned by Microsoft. Xandr and other companies took the bait and refused to place ads on websites that GDI slapped with a “risky” label, according to emails leaked to the Washington Examiner. xi So, taxpayers footed the bill for an attack on free speech. Among the ten "riskiest" outlets identified by GDI are The New York Post, American Spectator, Newsmax, The American Conservative, The Blaze, One America News, The Daily Wire, Reason, RealClearPolitics, and The Federalist. Their crime? Not toeing the line of a particular political narrative. xii Meanwhile, left-leaning outlets like The New York Times, HuffPost, NPR, and BuzzFeed, were conveniently labeled as “less risky.” This is nothing short of a disgraceful misuse of public funds, aimed squarely at stifling free speech, competition, and manipulating public discourse. It’s an attack on the very freedoms this country was built on. Taxpayers Fund a Disinformation Index—But the Real Fake News is That It’s Useful! The Department of State (DOS) wasted $330,000 to fund censorship of non-liberal and conservative media 9 Ever notice how a seemingly harmless Oreo ad on your social media feed can suddenly ignite a craving you didn't even know you had? It feels like a no-brainer to conclude that advertising affects our eating habits—we’ve all been tempted by a well-placed snack ad. Yet, what seems obvious to the everyday consumer has warranted an extensive, taxpayer-funded investigation at one of the nation's leading universities. It's like we're paying to prove water is wet. Source: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/6/1934 The Department of Health and Human Services has allocated a generous $2 million to a research team at New York University, tasking them with a mission to unravel the influence of social media food advertising on the dietary choices of adolescents. xiii 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. xiv Let's break down what this really means. We're talking about taxpayer dollars funding a study to watch teens watch ads. Then, those teens eat snacks. Finally, researchers use fancy eyetracking technology to see where the teens are looking—because apparently, finding out if they're staring at the chips, the "likes," or the model is a matter of national importance. It's like Big Brother, but instead of monitoring for national security threats, we're monitoring for snack attacks. One might reasonably predict that this latest study will echo the findings of its predecessors, reaffirming what we already know—ads work, and they work well. However, is this the most pressing issue that warrants such a hefty investment of federal funds? 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. Indeed, the idea of spending millions to revalidate established knowledge could be seen as redundant at best. The key question remains: Will this new research bring any groundbreaking insights, or are we merely repeating the same experiments with a slightly different flavor? Snack Attack The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a $2 million grant to study kids looking at Facebook ads about food 10 Source: Destinations, Detours and Dreams website. What do you get when you mix U.S. taxpayer dollars with a crumbling, non-functional hotel in the Caribbean? Apparently, a $108,000 bill. As part of the Department of State’s Global Ambassador’s Fund for Preservation (AFCP program), in 2023, the Bath Hotel in Nevis, a building that hadn’t operated as a hotel for years, with a bath house that is boarded up and not in use anymore, received a substantial renovation funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy. The grant aims to preserve the historical features of the Bath Hotel and bring the building up to safety standards. xv Putting aside the fact this grant sends your tax dollars overseas, there’s one glaring issue: The Bath Hotel isn’t open for business and hasn’t been for a long time! Yet U.S. taxpayers were still tapped to foot the bill for everything from electrical wiring and plumbing repairs to roof sealing. xvi The AFCP is known for being highly competitive, with cultural organizations from around the world vying for a slice of the limited funding pie. While preserving cultural heritage is important, it raises the question: Shouldn’t we prioritize our own backyard before spending taxpayer dollars abroad on a hotel that doesn’t even operate? And here’s the kicker: this renovation plan has been gathering dust since 2011 xvii , only now being funded by U.S. taxpayers, who have been cast as the unwitting financiers of this folly. It seems we’ve been patiently waiting for over a decade to throw money into a project that doesn’t have a practical endgame. Source: Nevis Island Administration website. It’s another case of our government’s misplaced priorities, where taxpayers foot the bill for projects that don’t serve the public or make economic sense. The Bath Hotel project is a prime example of why we need to scrutinize where our money goes— and demand better. Taxpayer Dollars Down the Drain in Nevis — A Hotel That Is No Longer A Hotel The Department of State (DOS) spent $108,272 on a non-functioning hotel 11 Source: IRS Democrats said they passed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to make everyday items more affordable for hard-working Americans struggling to make ends meet. Aside from doing nothing to actually lower inflation, xviii they also managed to slip in $15 million for a task force whose purpose is to turn the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into an unholy force of tax preparing, filing, and auditing via their Direct File Pilot program. The plan? Spend millions to see if the IRS could take over tax preparation— because who wouldn't want the same people auditing them also to do their taxes? And if you think this was an unbiased effort, think again. Democrats handed off the study to a leftleaning think tank with ties to Obama and Clinton. xix Independent? Sure, if you squint hard enough. According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, only 12% of taxpayers were eligible to use the Direct File Pilot program, which could cost up to $249 million a year. xx Burning $15 million to study a system that already exists in the private sector and is free to use? xxi Sounds like classic government waste. But wait, there's more! Not only does Direct File create an unholy amalgamation of IRS tax authority, it's also unconstitutional! The IRA only allowed for a study, but the IRS jumped the gun, developing the system without Congressional approval. So, instead of saving Americans money or lowering inflation, the government is spending your money on an unconstitutional, expensive, and largely unwanted project. Wasteful and unconstitutional? Just another day in Washington! Direct File Fail Congress spent $15 million to turn the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into an unconstitutional force to prepare, file, and audit your hard-earned money 12 Despite spending over $1 trillion xxii to try and solve the drug crisis, cocaine, one of the most harmful and addictive drugs, continues to gain popularity in communities nationwide. xxiii Significant funding has been allocated to the study of cocaine addiction, but there seems to be no solution in sight. xxiv This raises the question, how are these scientific studies and grants really using your tax dollars? One of these studies examining cocaine use took place at New York University (NYU). They received $419,470 xxv from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate whether rats placed in positive environments would be more likely to abstain from cocaine than rats in negative and isolating environments. While half a million dollars may just be a small nibble in the grand scheme of the nation’s growing deficit, those nibbles add up fast. Researchers first placed rats in small compartments and injected them with cocaine to create a positive association with that location. The rats were then divided into different test groups. One group was allowed to socialize and had substantial access to food and toys. The other group was kept in isolation with no toys and limited access to food. Source: sipa/ Pixabay After four weeks, researchers compared the two groups’ reactions. To no one’s surprise, the rats subjected to starvation and the more isolated environment sought their cocaineassociated compartments more than those in the enriched social environment.