From time to time the folks here at your favorite radio show like to highlight examples of government waste. This is always a bittersweet moment for us, because there are so many funny examples of stupid crap our government pisses away money on and the cronyism never seems to end. Sure, we all have a good laugh, but then after the chuckles go away we're reminded that we're the fools who paid for this nonsense.
Anyway, the Federal debt is now well over $21 Trillion dollars, which amounts to about $65,000 per person. If you're patient enough to wade through the murky swamp that is our national spending crisis, here are a few things that will have you shaking your head in confusion today. Fox News recently featured some of these examples with data compiled by OpenTheBooks.com.
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Sex-Ed for Sex-Workers - If you're not familiar with the The California Prostitutes Education Project, get ready to fall over. This project recently received almost $1.5 million from HHS to teach sex-ed to prostitutes. If you need to take sex-ed courses, you probably shouldn't be having sex for a living. You can blame Barbara Lee, the Democrat from California, for this doozy.
Designing Condoms – Over $200,000 was spent on designing new condoms because the old condoms didn't have enough lubricant, according to our government. The Feds gave a grant to a company called Hydroglyde Coatings so they could design better prophylactics. We have Joseph Kennedy III, a Democrat from Massachusetts, to blame for this nonsense.
Video Game for Your Future Self - For some reason over $650,000 was spent on designing a video game that helps young people learn more about life in the future. What does the government know about predicting the future? Not much. They're about as qualified to predict the future as they are at designing video games. Believe it or not, a Democrat wasn't behind this stupid idea. Nope. It was Republican Robert Wittman of Virginia.
Pedestrian Training in China - Do we need to teach people to cross the street in China? The University of Alabama thinks so, so they got a $183,750 grant to develop virtual reality software that teaches kids in China to use a crosswalk. Why? Because Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama, thought it was a cute idea.
E-Diary for Micro-Aggressions - if you've ever wanted to spend $173,089 of money from the HHS on penning a digital diary on micro-aggressions that affect racially diverse bisexual women, you might be Republican Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Good job, Adam! You've really made a difference with this stupid idea.
Galactic Animated Cartoons - I know what you're probably thinking right now. Why can't NASA spend $2.5 million on space-themed animated children's cartoons? Well, Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, totally agrees with you and he supported this idea all the way to the bank. I bet he eats a ton of sugary cereal on Saturday mornings when he watches cartoons.
Zoombinis Computer Game - It's hard to believe The National Science Foundation granted over $658,000 to redevelop a 1990s computer game called “The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis”, but it's true. For some reason we needed to remake a video game that nobody cared about the first time around. Thanks for nothing, Katherine Clark, a Democrat from Massachusetts, for forcing this example of reckless spending on our nation.
Hobo Day - How much would you guess the the National Endowment for the Arts spent on South Dakota State’s Historic Hobo Day? The answer is $12,000. So what did we get for $12,000? Well, one day a year students dress up as “hobos” and parade rough the streets of South Dakota. But why did that cost $12,000?! We'll have to ask Kristi Noem, a Republican from SD, who seems to think we're not spending enough money dressing our children like homeless people. Good job, Kristi. Your legacy has been cemented in history with this stupid idea.
Find more examples of absurd spending at OpenTheBooks.com.