The US government is one of the largest corporations on earth and if you look a little closer you’ll discover it is probably one of the worst managed in the world. The US government spends money on things that to anyone with an iota of common sense would say was ridiculous. Yet time after time it continues to happen and today we are saddled with a national debt of $17 trillion, which will take the next 3 or 4 generations of our descendants to pay off. Today we’re going to take a look at 10 of the most ludicrous government programs. At first you might find it humorous but if you multiply it by the number of government programs out there and the trillions of dollars that are spent each year it starts to take on alarming proportions.
10. Robot Squirrels
The US government pays for robot squirrels. This is all part of a program to help one enterprising scientist get over $300,000 to study rattlesnakes and by using robotic squirrels, he can do so without endangering the lives of live test subjects. It would seem after 300 years of living in this country we still don’t know squat about rattlesnakes. However, by using these custom-made robots this particular scientist hopes to be able to document rattlesnakes in the wild and increase our knowledge of these lovable and wonderful creatures. – Source
9. Solar Panels that can’t be used because of the Sun.
Another federally mandated program was to put solar power on an unnamed airport to help it achieve a lower carbon footprint and allow for the savings of thousands of dollars in electricity costs. However, the designers overlooked one small problem and this is leaving most of the already paid for solar panels laying in a storage yard under tarps with no plans for installation in the immediate future.
The problem you ask? Well, the solar power panels reflect sunlight that blinds the pilots as they’re taking off and landing on the runways. Therefore, by going green, they not only endanger the local citizenry with a possible air crash, but they wasted all the money used in purchasing the solar panels in the first place. – Source
8. IRS Tax Write Off Programs for companies
Google is one of the largest online search engines in the world as well as one of the big 3 providers of cloud services. This means Google’s profits are sky high in the billions. Since they structured their employees’ retirement plans based on options, the IRS gives them a free pass on their tax liability. This for the last few years has resulted Google paying virtually no taxes. – Source
7. Playing World of WarCraft is costing us Millions.
A certain West Coast University is receiving government funding to play “World of WarCraft” as well as other select video games. This is costing the American taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars every year while the Academics make up their minds whether video games are a new form of communication or not. This seems to have to do with the fact that many of the online players of this MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games) live, breathe, eat, and sleep online wearing elaborate headsets and cursing each other as well as chatting while they play these games. – Source
6. $4.5 Billion in misappropriated Food stamps
Today, many people are out of work and require government assistance in order to make ends meet while attempting to retrain or find a job. However, some people have found loopholes in the system and are even able to afford lobster, champagne, as well as beer using your tax dollars in the form of food stamps as well as the infamous “Link Card System.” The numbers aren’t all in yet but the estimated number is sitting at $4.5 billion in misappropriation of food stamps. – Source
5. National Science Foundation
The national science foundation, the premier purveyors of knowledge in this country, are not to be outdone in their wastage as well. It seems they’ve managed to get in on the public cornucopia of money to study whether politicians who make “ambiguous” statements lose credibility with their constituency and the voting public in general. These scientists need to get out more often as all they would have to do is watch the video broadcasts of the last 2 presidential debates and they would have all the information they require for free. – Source
4. Clinics that don’t even exist
Academics are pikers when it comes to figuring out how to get Uncle Sam and his government programs to make them a sweet living. It seems the Medicare and Medicaid systems are supporting 118 clinics with payments that total up to over $35 million. What nobody bothered to check was whether or not these clinics actually existed or not and of course, it turns out many of the addresses are vacant lots, abandoned apartment buildings, and in some cases the streets themselves don’t even exist. You’d think verifying that clinic actually exists before releasing funds to them would be one of the first things that a government agency would do before writing them a check.
3. $27 Million for Moroccan Pottery Classes?
Culture is big business these days as we find out that Moroccan pottery classes are on the public dole to the tune of $27 million so far. There hasn’t seemed to be much of an outcry over this so it is assumed that those in government feel that Moroccan pottery is high on the list of critical national projects that serve the public interest. – Source
2. Salamander Crossing in Vermont
You read that correctly. The Vermont salamander was endangered by motorists and needed a safe way to cross the roads in this New England state. However, spending over $200,000 one would think it would be easier to move the roads to bypass the salamander’s habitat in the first place. However, this is obviously someone’s pet project and aside from painting some lines and creating some signs, the majority of this cash probably found its way into someone’s back pocket. – Source
1. $1,000,000,000 over payment for just about everything else and 3 Trillion that just up and vanished
The scariest thing of all about government spending is that the government openly acknowledges they have no idea where over $1 trillion is going. Add to this a few years back where $3 trillion vanished and the Pentagon comptroller who had a dual Israeli-US citizenship returned to Israel who refuses to allow the US to extradite him to answer some pointed questions about where all the money went.
