Washington’s dilemma on how to pay for the proposed tax cuts — their solution is cut or cap some key taxpayer deductions that we all count on along with eliminating state and local tax deductions. And even considering a tax on your important IRA contributions. Perhaps a better solution is to look at some of the crazy things they spend our tax payer dollars on!
The last time I looked at a financial statement, there are two key elements – revenue and expenses. But of course Washington never looks at expenses, only how they can raise more revenues. Doling out taxpayer money to special interests and silly pet projects needs to stop. Let’s take a look at some of these ridiculous, worthless special interest, pet projects that the federal government has squandered our hard-earned dollars on. The US government spent $ 750,000 on a new soccer field for detainees at Guantanamo Bay; Obama administration planned to spend (and possibly did ) $16-20M helping students from Indonesia get master’s degrees; spent $ 175,587 to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior; spent $200,00 on a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, California; spent $3M to researchers at the U. of California, Irvine to fund research on video games such as World of Warcraft; HHS planned to spend (and possibly did ) $500M seeking to solve the problem as to why 5-year olds can’t sit still in a kindergarten classroom; spent $30M to help Pakistani farmers produce more mangos; gave researchers at the U. of New Hampshire $700,000 to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows; gave $615,000 to the U. of California, Santa Cruz to digitize photos, t-shirts and concert tickets belonging to the Grateful Dead.
Here’s a good one: Spent $2.6M to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly!; Spends $25B annually to maintain federal buildings that are either unused or totally vacant, losing billions (estimated at $143 B since 2009 in improper Medicaid payments.
If this listing of ridiculous Washington spending on pet projects doesn’t drive you crazy, check online for hundreds more! Yes, Washington, there is another key element in the world’s biggest financial statement — expenses. Try cutting them for a change!
George Cook
Wilmington
