The Federal government regularly wastes your money on various causes. In an annual tradition, we get to find out the details behind the government’s wasteful spending habits. Here are the latest silly ways the government has spent your tax dollars.
$35,000 on Solar Panels
The Agriculture Department spent $35,000 on solar panels for a brewery in North Michigan, where they don’t get much sun anyway.
$2.7 million on Weight Loss
The National Institutes of Health spent $2.7 million on a weight loss program for truckers.
$40 million Tax Credit for a Luxury Hotel
The IRS gave this tax credit to Donald Trump, who wanted to make a luxury hotel out of the Old Post Office in Washington.
$545,000 on Testifying
The State Department spent this money on a training course to show senior officials how to properly testify before congress.
$683,000 on Hamlet
The National Endowment for the Arts gave theatre companies in Virginia this money to perform adaptations of Hamlet, without any dialogue.
$50,000 for Casinos
The National Science Foundation also awarded a $50,000 grant to create a random number generator for casinos.
$65,000 on Bugs
The National Park Service spent this money to see what happened to bugs when they switched off the lights in parks.
$43 million on a Gas Station
The Pentagon spent this money on a gas station in Afghanistan in a project that should have cost $500,000.
The terrifying part about all these silly ways the government has wasted money is that we elected these officials.
Image credit: Jason Rogers