Politics

Rand Paul Exposes $50 Billion In Wasteful Government Spending – Goes Public

Rand Paul just released a government report exposing wasted tax money that should infuriate every single American taxpayer.

The report says that we are spending almost $500k to study frog mating calls in Panama of all places and it sure seems like that money could be better spent.

Sure, it’s just a drop in a bucket but when you add it all up, as Rand Paul did and discovered over $50 billion in wasteful government spending.

The Washington Examiner wrote that the report found that the State Department spent $100,000 subsidizing the Pakistani film industry — not exactly an issue dear to the average American’s heart. The federal government, too, spent nearly $500,000 studying frog mating calls in Panama, and $10 million to subsidize “green growth” in Peru.

Next time you cut a check to the IRS on tax day, remember that some of your money is going to obscure projects that in no way advance American interests.

The federal government also continues to waste tax-payers money on nation-building abroad, according to Rand Paul’s report. He identified $2 million wasted in democracy promotion in Tunisia. Paul rightly laments further investment in failed nation-building — let’s just hope that the lawmakers finally take notice.

Rand Paul also found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid wasted $48 billion in fiscal year 2018 in improper payments. This is trully insane: One of the largest entitlement programs is pissing away billions in taxpayer dollars on waste and fraud.

All in all, Rand Paul’s report found $50,190,108,562 in government waste — and he is probably just scratching the surface. This is absolutely unacceptable in light of our growing national debt, which poses a serious threat to our fiscal future.

We are set to run at least a $1 trillion dollar deficit in 2019, with the total national debt currently exceeding $22.5 trillion. These numbers are hard to contextualize in the abstract, but think of it this way: That’s roughly $180,000 in debt for each taxpayer.

The claims that the federal government wasted Americans’ tax dollars as it…

Attempted to increase trust between Tunisian political parties and citizens (State) $2,000,000

Converted an abandoned mental hospital into DHS HQ (GSA and DHS) $2,120,040,355.35

Supported “Green Growth” in Peru (USAID) $10,000,000

Fixed vehicles New York City falsely claimed Superstorm Sandy damaged (FEMA) $5,303,624

Increased the capacity of the Pakistani film industry (State) $100,000

Paid out billions from Medicare in improper payments (CMS) $48,000,000,000

Taught English and IT skills at Madrassas (State) $150,000

Studied frog mating calls in Panama (NSF) $466,991

Paid for Google Scholar searches in Hawaii (NSF, NOAA, USFS, DOI, NASA) $51,722,107

Paid for property confiscated in Afghanistan by the ANDSF (USACE) $325,485

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