COMMENTARY | Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released his 2011 Waste Book Tuesday, detailing preposterous uses for your hard-earned money.
While Democrats, including the campaigner-in-chief, want to raise taxes on employers, the federal government is spending billions on drug-themed hippie pizzerias, promoting animal cruelty and booze for parties.
The report shows that the federal government has spent $35.38 million to "help pay for the stages, confetti, balloons, food, and booze for their political conventions." Both parties receive $17.7 million for these lavish soirees. What benefit, exactly, are the taxpayers receiving from this?
Another highly offensive misuse of taxpayer money is a $356,933 study of how cocaine affects the sex drive of Coturnix (Japanese Quail). The University of Kentucky poisoned these little birds to see if the drug made them horny, a well-known side effect of cocaine. Where are PETA and HSUS when actual animal abuse is occurring on our dime?
As a breeder of quail and a human being, I am outraged by this. The quail is one the most pleasant, gentle birds one may encounter. Their demeanor, however, is beside the point as this horrendous study serves absolutely no good purpose and is of no service to humanity.
The 5-year study is headed up by Chana Akins, a member of the Psychology Department at University of KY, according to NIH records.
Almost $18 million in foreign aid was given to China in 2011, the country that holds more than $1 trillion in U.S. debt. The foreign aid does not serve to discharge that debt.
More than $1.3 million went toward televisions for rural Vietnamese and gas-powered electric generators to power those televisions to study the "causal impacts of television on family formation and on reproductive health knowledge."
You can't make this stuff up.
Another endeavor we unwillingly paid for was putting Billy Dee Williams back to work on an internet soap opera to the tune of $936,818. This must be one of those jobs "saved or created" by the stimulus package.
The IRS spent almost a million dollars on storage fees for unused furniture and the National Science Institute spent just short of half of a million dollars to find out if people trust Twitter tweets for accuracy.
There is simply not enough room to list all of the stupidity that the federal government is spending tax-payer money on. I encourage all to read this report for yourself.
Think of this when you hear the Democrats claim there is no cuts that can be made, such as when Congressman Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, incredulously asked Emily Miller, senior editor at Human Events "Where?" when she asked him to cut spending in 2010.
This is exactly why the progressives and RINOs must be replaced by conservatives such as Sen. Coburn. This is why I am voting for Rick Perry and smaller government.