Enough waste to make everyone mad

Enough waste to make everyone mad

Senator Tom Coburn, MD (R-NE) has just released his 2013 Wastebook outlining the top 100 examples of wasteful spending by our federal government. If you scan through the document you will find more than enough outrageous expenditures to infuriate liberals and conservatives alike.

The document is 200 pages so those with a “normal” attention span, including me, will not read it word for word. However, it takes little time to scroll through a brief description of each of the items.

Senator Coburn states these wasteful expenditures total $30 billion. That represents just over $95 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. If that sounds like an insignificant amount to you, try this. The next time you jump in the car with your spouse and two kids, wad up four $100 bills and toss them out the window. That is effectively what happens when our elected representatives appropriate funds for these special interest boondoggles.

In his introduction to the report, Senator Coburn suggests readers ask themselves four questions as they digest the information. The most pertinent of the four is: “Can we afford this at this time?” We recently passed the $17 trillion debt mark. Projected annual deficits approaching $1 trillion will continue to add to this number. The recent budget passed by Congress will cut $600 million a year from the pensions of those military personnel who have so honorably served all Americans and millions of people all over the world. This represents just 2 percent of the $30 billion of wasteful spending identified by Senator Coburn.

Is Congress out of control? Think about that the next time you step into the voters booth.

Dave Carrell

Campton Hills