Wastebook 2014, a new report published Wednesday, chronicles the 100 most outlandish projects on which the government burned taxpayer money this year.
According to CBS News, it is the fifth such annual report issued by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, and seeks to highlight the inefficiencies of our bloated federal bureaucracy. As a bonus, Coburn also included a teaser video showing some of the reckless spending in action.
"We should be ashamed that we're wasting money the way that we are," Coburn said in an interview announcing the report. "So if we're watching and we're holding people accountable, we'll get better value for the taxes that we pay and we won't risk the future of our kids."
Among the most wasteful projects are a synchronized swimming experiment for sea monkeys ($50,000), promoting U.S. culture around the globe with nose flutists ($90 million), and robotic Swedish massages for rabbits ($387,000). That's not to even mention the gambling monkeys.
In total, the report compiles $25 billion in wasteful spending. Sadly, it will be the senator's last report, as he plans to retire at the end of this term.
"With no one watching over the vast bureaucracy, the problem is not just what Washington isn’t doing, but what it is doing," Coburn explained. "Only someone with too much of someone else’s money and not enough accountability for how it was being spent could come up some of these projects."
A great number of the projects were commissioned by unelected bureaucrats, but, shamefully, some were rammed through Congress by pork-minded representatives looking to grab cash for their home districts.
The full-color report can be viewed at
Sen. Coburn's website.
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