Wasteful Taxpayer-funded Congressional Travel

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, has an excellent article on how politicians waste taxpayers' money by using luxury military aircraft for their junkets. As an example, in 2010 Nancy Pelosi’s jet travel cost the Air Force $2,100,744.59 over a two-year period — $101,429.14 of which was for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol.

One trip traveling through Tel Aviv, Israel, to Baghdad, Iraq, May 15-20, 2008, included members of Congress and their spouses and cost $17,931 per hour in aircraft alone. Purchases included: Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey’s Irish Crème, Maker’s Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey, Corona beer and several bottles of wine.

Shutdowns aside, given that our national debt is nearly $22 trillion, it might be reasonable to ask members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, to forego both the booze and the frivolous junkets.

San Francisco Poop Patrol

San Francisco has assigned six city workers to pickup human waste in the city. These "Poop Patrollers" will earn $71,760 a year, which swells to a value of $184,678 with mandated benefits, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Who, other than government funded by taxpayers, would pay this kind of money for someone to pickup poop?

$14.7B Pork-barrel Spending

A watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, on Wednesday released its annual Congressional Pig Book of what it considers the most egregious examples of pork-barrel spending in Congress, drawn this time from fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills. According to the group, earmarks in 2018 totaled $14.7 billion, an increase of 116.2 percent from $6.8 billion in 2017.

EPA paid $1,560 for 12 fountain pens

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/01/politics/pruitt-epa-pens/index.html

$17 Million Russian Probe

Taxpayers have spent nearly $17 million on the Russia probe since Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over the investigation last year, according to a new spending report released Thursday by the Justice Department.

More Government Waste

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/05/03/just-how-much-federal-waste-duplication-and-weird-or-unnecessary-spending-are-your-tax-dollars-funding.html

Clinton Cash Documentary Movie

Clinton Cash investigates how Bill and Hillary Clinton went from being “dead broke” after leaving the White House to amassing a net worth of over $150 million, with over $2 billion in donations to their foundation. This wealth was accumulated during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure as US Secretary of State through lucrative speaking fees and contracts paid for by foreign companies and Clinton Foundation donors.

$5.5 million in unallowable Medicaid payments made to dead people in Texas

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/06/5-5-million-in-unallowable-medicaid-payments-made-to-dead-people-in-texas.html

100 Ways the Government Dropped the Ball

An $85 million loan for a hotel complex in Kabul, a billion dollars in missing equipment for Iraqi forces and a $30,000 grant to stage “Doggie Hamlet” are just a few examples of the “Federal Fumbles” a Republican senator has flagged in a new report on wasteful government spending. The 86-page report from Sen. James Lankford identified $437.6 billion in “wasteful and inefficient” federal spending.

Taxpayer piggy bank lets Congress settle sexual harassment cases in secret

The Washington Post, which first reported on the fund, found that between 1997 and 2014, $15.2 million was paid out to 235 claimants. For more info visit http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/10/taxpayer-piggy-bank-lets-congress-settle-sexual-harassment-cases-in-secret.html

Obama's EPA spent $690,000 on parking spots no one used

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/09/obamas-epa-spent-690000-on-parking-spots-no-one-used.html 

Congressional Investigations

Congress spends untold millions of dollars on congressional investigations (primarily, for the purpose of trying to incriminate each other's party) with little or nothing to show for it. The Whitewater investigation involving Bill and Hillary Clinton was $70 million. Hillary's E-mail server issue has been estimated at roughly $20 million. The most recent Benghazi probe is known to have cost $7 million and that does not include the State Department spending $14 million and the Department of Defense $2 million just defending themselves. Who knows what the current Russian investigation will cost?

The end result is that almost no one is ever fired from a government job or goes to jail. The only winners have been the lawyers. Money that could have gone to helping the poor, improving education or reducing the national debt has been wasted solely for political purposes.

$1.3B in illegal immigrant welfare payouts

Read full post at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/03/la-made-1-3b-in-illegal-immigrant-welfare-payouts-in-just-2-years.html

Feds spent more than $500G on apartments for people who 'did not exist'

The Department of Housing and Urban Development spent over $500,000 on apartments for people who "did not exist," according to the agency's inspector general. Click here for full article.

Massive Obamaphone Fraud

The last time I was in Las Vegas, there were street corner vendors signing-up people for free Obamaphones. It was clear to me at the time that the program was being abused. Sure enough, a three year study by the General Accountability Office found massive waste, fraud and abuse. Click here to read the full article.

Click on photo to enlarge

The above photo was taken in front of a convenience store near the RV park were I was staying. Note phone in circle.