If there’s one thing you can always count on the federal government to do, it’s find endless ways to waste American taxpayer dollars.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday released his annual ‘Festivus’ report to disclose how much money the government wasted this year.

The 2023 report disclosed $900 billion in government waste.

“Some of the highlights include the National Institutes of Health spending a portion of a $2.7 million grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill and Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds,” Paul wrote in a press release.

“The Department of Defense ruined over $169 million worth of military equipment by leaving it outside, the United States Agency for International Development spent $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and the Small Business Administration gave ‘struggling’ music artists like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne over $200 million,” he added.

“Last Festivus, we lamented over the national debt reaching an astronomical $30 trillion. Shockingly, in one short year, the career politicians and bureaucrats in Washington have managed to approach $34 trillion in debt, without so much as a second thought,” the Festivus Report said.

“Who’s to blame for our crushing level of debt? Everybody. This year, members of both parties in Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling, which empowered the government to borrow an unlimited amount of money until 2024. As Congress spends to reward its favored industries and pet projects, the American taxpayers are forced to pay the price through record high inflation and crippling interest rates,” it continued.

From the Festivus Report:

The same big spenders teamed up, yet again, to continue sending Americans’ hard-earned money to foreign countries and funding endless wars, all while ignoring our porous southern border.

And our mountain of debt will continue to pile ever higher. The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $2 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. The U.S. government will add over $5 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years. We borrow over $200 million every hour, we borrow $3 million every minute, and we borrow $60,000 every second.

This year, I am highlighting a whopping ~$900,000,000,000 of waste, including an NIH grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill, Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds, $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and $200 million to ‘struggling artists’ like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne. No matter how much money the government has already wasted, politicians keep demanding even more.

As always, taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but, as I’ve done in years past, I will continue my fight against government waste this holiday season.

So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (spending) Grievances!

Highlights of the 2023 Festivus Report include:

  • Barbie Doll Photo Used to Get COVID PPP Funds
  • Dr. Fauci’s Monkey Business: $33.2 Million to Run NIH’s “Monkey Island”
  • $6 Million to Boost Egyptian Tourism? Talk about Foreign Aid Waste!
  • USDA’s Cutting-Edge Research: Walking Hot Dogs
  • Department of Homeland Security: Training Employees To Be Their “Authentic & Best Selves”
  • Russian Cats-On-A-Treadmill Studies … Funded by Part of a $2.7 Million NIH Grant
  • The Government Paid $38 Million to Dead People!
  • DOD’s $8,395 Lobster Tank Not Quite the Tank to Take into Battle!
  • How to Ruin Millions of Dollars in Military Equipment Part 1: $89 Million Worth of Engines
  • How to Ruin Millions of Dollars in Military Equipment Part 2: $12.6 Million Worth of Transmissions
  • How to Ruin Millions of Dollars in Military Equipment Part 3: $68 Million Worth of Military Tank & Vehicle Treads
  • “Real Fake”: DHS’s Graphic Novel About Disinformation
  • DHS’s 2nd Graphic Novel: COVID “Disinformation”
  • NIH’s Meth-Head Monkeys
  • $400 Million Pot of Cash for Political Campaigns
  • NIH’s Monkey Casino: Gambling for Drinking Water
  • SBA’s $200 Million Ticket to Backstage
  • Studying COVID-19 “Misinformation” On Social Media In Black and Rural Communities, Using $3.8 Million in NIH Funds
  • Dr. Fauci’s $477,121 Transgender Monkey Study
  • Whoopsie: $236 Billion in Improper Federal Payments

Read the full details at the Festivus Report.

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