It is time, once again, to review the ways in which taxpayer money has been wasted over the past year. These kinds of stories happen with a time-honored predictability and regularity that staggers the imagination. Government Waste has become so common place that it’s hard to get people excited about changing such unethical behavior.
In an article by Martin Matishak for AgoFiscal Times entitled, “Solar Powered Beer? 8 Ridiculous Ways the Government Wastes Your Money,” yet another politician, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), held a press conference on November 30, 2015 decrying government waste.
“People want their government to be efficient. That’s a reasonable thing to do. This is not a matter of cutting, this is identifying things that are not federal priorities or finding things that should be done better by a state or things that would be wasteful,” Lankford said during a Capitol Hill press conference.
Among the senator’s examples included (quoted directly from the article):
“The Agriculture Department spent $35,000 on solar panels for a brewery in northern Michigan
The National Institutes of Health spent about $2.7 million on weight-loss program for truckers.
The Internal Revenue Service issued a $40 million tax credit to GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump to turn the Old Post Office in Washington into a new, luxury hotel.
The National Park Service spent more than $65,000 to “demonstrate what happens to bugs when the lights go out.
The Pentagon spent around $43 million to build a gas station in Afghanistan, a project that should have cost about $500,000.”
It is easy for us to get our dander up over these kinds of stories. Of course, it’s also a matter of interpretation, and this is, after all, a political year running up to the presidential election. To reflect on the senator’s examples, let’s ask these questions:
- Suppose alternative energy could be infused into food processing?
- How much is obesity in workers costing our health care system?
- Are the tax credits given to Donald Trump any different than those doled out to anyone else in this country?
- Insects cause billions of dollars in damage to our national forests, wouldn’t we like to know how they live at night?
- It is no secret that the pentagon wastes billions and granted, $43 million for a gas station seems astronomical, however what were the circumstances? Building a gas station in Afghanistan hardly seems like building one in a small town in the Midwest.
Not defending waste
In no way am I defending government waste, but ethically it is time the playing field is a kept a lot more level. This is especially important when politicians speechify.
- Senators receive health benefits and pensions that most Americans can only dream about. They have access to many benefits most Americans never see.
- Senators have all kinds of staffing allowances, expense allowances, free travel benefits and even free postage.
- Senators have a starting salary of around $175,000 a year and it goes up from there. May not sound “like much,” but consider how many of their expenses are paid…by you!
- Senators are not prevented from speaking engagements and while receiving gifts is officially prohibited in certain situations (such as from a foreign government), there are ways around many gifting rules.
- There is a student loan forgiveness program for children of senators. While they still have to pay off their loans, there is more “forgiveness.”
I could go on, and in this discussion I could also include the benefits and security given to congress people and tens of thousands of government employees who feed at the taxpayer trough. So if we are reflecting on government waste, we might also include a discussion on government benefits to their own, and why we are supporting all of these folks and their families long after they walk away from their jobs.
Government has apparently provided these benefits so that they can attract the “brightest and the best.” Can you name one corporation or association in America that intentionally hires the “dullest and the worst?”
Yes, it is good to point out waste but if senators are taking that “ethical” road, let them make sure the nets they throw covers everyone, including the bid fish.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
