Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) dropped his annual “Festivus Report,” which chronicles the worst of wasteful spending of tax dollars by the U.S. government.
This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12,” said Paul. '“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!”
Paul added, “No matter how much money the government has wasted, politicians keep demanding even more.”
You're gonna lose it when you read this list.
* Ghost town maintenance: $10B on empty buildings
* COVID relief fraud: Florida man stole $8M to buy island
* Las Vegas pickleball: DOI spent $12M on complex
* Media censorship: DOS spent $330K on "disinformation index"
* Facebook food ads: HHS granted $2M to study kids' ad viewing
* Failed hotel: DOS spent $108,272 on non-functioning hotel in Nevis
* IRS Direct File: Congress spent $15M on tax filing system
* Rat study: HHS spent $419,470 studying lonely rats and cocaine
* Electric vehicles: DOE spent $15.5B on EV initiatives
* Influencer program: DOS spent $4.8M on influencers
* Circus promotion: NEA spent $365K for city park circuses
* Climate action: DOS spent $3M for girls' climate programs in Brazil
* Jordanian films: DOS paid $873,584 to Royal Film Commission
* Football diplomacy: DOS spent $345,434 on counter-terrorism through football
* Trucking bailout: Treasury gave $700M loan to failing company
* Birdwatching DEI: NSF spent $288,563 on "safe spaces"
* Interest payments: $892B in FY2024 on federal debt interest
* Ethiopia PR: DOS spent $500K on social media campaign
* Magic projects: Federal government spent $7M on various magical initiatives
* Paraguay border: DOS spent $2.1M on border security
* High Line art: NEA awarded $385K since 2015
* International fertilizer: USDA spending $20M on fertilizer initiative
* Cat COVID studies: NIAID/USDA spent $2.24M on experiments
* Viral peace: DOS spending $123,066 on Kyrgyzstan youth program
* Motion sickness cats: NIH spent $1.5M on study
* Cat experiments: DOD spent $10.8M on research
* Duck conservation: DOI spent $720,479 in Mexico
* Iraqi Sesame Street: USAID spending $20M on "Ahlan Simsim"
* Bosnia misinformation: DOS spent $253,653 on campaign
* Navy vessels: Navy to spend $90B on ineffective ships
* Climate cabaret: NEA gave $10K for ice skating climate show
* Breakdancing: DOS allocated $32,596 for program
Each one of these items has its own explainer and details page in the report.
Ho, Ho, Ho…