The richest country in the world can’t afford subsidized healthcare – but it can waste over $900 billion a year on DoD lobster tanks and promoting Egyptian tourism

The most egregious federal government money wastes of 2023

It’s no secret that the government is rife with accounts of fraud, mismanagement, and skewed priorities that end up wasting hundreds of billions each year. The waste continues to increase each year – so much for learning from past mistakes. There is no apology, accountability, or intention to do better with your money. At the same time, the U.S. stands as the wealthiest nation in the world – with the worst healthcare system of the developed nations.

I’m not necessarily saying the federal government should be in charge of administering healthcare in this country; that would likely be a disaster. But the absurdity and complexity of the cost of monthly insurance, coupled with the notion that people routinely file for bankruptcy because they were in an accident, are unable to afford life-saving medications and struggle to bring a child safely into the world because of enormous and hidden costs, and that we don’t subsidize or value preventative health measures (unless it’s a cozy Big Pharma kickback ala COVID vaccines) isn’t something to ignore.

The tried-and-true argument is that the government can’t afford to spend more. Yes, we are in enormous debt – to the tune of $34 trillion. But when hundreds of billions of your dollars are wasted each year on such nonsense as what is compiled below, it should at least be food for thought.

Imagine if we didn’t just throw away your hard-earned dollars, shrug it off as “oh well” and actually put it toward something worthwhile – like the most critical component of every American’s life: healthcare.

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Here are some examples of how Washington wasted tax dollars in 2023:

* $659 billion in interest to service the national debt: One significant issue associated with such a substantial debt burden is the considerable amount of money required to cover interest expenses.

* National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent some of a $2.7 million grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill: The NIH issued a grant to a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. The Institute then sub-granted the funds to researchers in St. Petersburg, Russia, for them (remember, this is your money) to post videos of their felines hooked up to electrodes and struggling to walk on a treadmill.

* The Pentagon spent $8,395 on a lobster tank, apparently to motivate its personnel to improve their diets. While not a huge amount in and of itself, these extraneous little luxuries no doubt add up. In addition, the Department of Defense ruined over $169 million worth of military equipment by leaving it outside.

* DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) used its federal funding on a workshop inspiring employees to be their “authentic and best selves”: it sounds like Tony Robbins on your dime. Moreover, CISA spent its tax dollars creating two comic-style graphic novels about “disinformation” and “vaccines” in its not-so-groundbreaking “Resilience Series.”

* 38 million to the deceased: a special task force reported that $38 million was issued to dead people, with some $1.3 million of that paid to individuals who were deceased for more than a year.

* The Small Business Administration (SBA) allocated $200 million to “struggling small business owners” like Post Malone, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and Smashing Pumpkins, who received up to $10 million each. Even Nickelback received $2 million, the report highlights.

* The United States Agency for International Development spent $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt: you read that right. In fact, the report points out that the U.S. has spent over $100 million on Egyptian tourism so far.

* Barbie doll photos were used as proof of identity for receiving a portion of the $800 billion in COVID Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds—no need to say more. 

Read the full report on government waste here. We deserve better.

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