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Good
afternoon
folks
-
You
sent
me
to
Congress
with
a
specific
mission:
cut
wasteful
spending
and
make
Washington
squeal.
We
both
know
that
Washington’s
reckless
spending
is
spiraling
out
of
control,
and
today,
we
are
more
than
$19
trillion
dollars
in
debt!
That
means
every
Iowan’s
share
of
the
national
debt
exceeds
$59,000.
Think
about
that
for
a
moment:
$59,000.
What
does
that
amount
mean
to
you?
For
many
Iowans,
that
amount
could
mean
a
college
degree
at
a
public
university
in
Iowa.
A
family
of
four
in
Iowa
could
buy
five
years'
worth
of
groceries.
Or,
a
farmer
could
use
that
money
to
raise
an
additional
400
pigs,
helping
our
agricultural
economy
for
Iowans
across
the
state.
Rather
than
using
those
hard-earned
dollars
for
an
education,
food,
or
agricultural
needs,
Iowans
are
forced
to
pay
for
Washington’s
repeated
reckless
spending
habits.
We
must
put
an
end
to
this
radical
spending.
I
take
seriously
the
responsibility
you
have
entrusted
in
me
to
make
Washington
more
competent
and
less
wasteful.
As
Tax
Day
approaches,
and
Iowans
are
forced
to
turn
over
more
of
their
hard-earned
dollars
to
Uncle
Sam,
I
am
taking
a
close
look
as
to
how
efficiently
our
government
is
actually
operating.
Every
month,
I
will
be
researching
and
identifying
areas
of
waste,
abuse
and
inefficiencies.
Then,
once
a
month,
I
will
give
out
the
Squeal
Award,
which
recognizes
a
Washington
expense,
program
or
concept
that
has
proven
to
be
wasteful
and
must
be
cut.
Squeal
Award:
TSA
Randomizer
Earlier
this
month,
news
reports
exposed
that
the
Transportation
Security
Administration
(TSA)
spent
tens
of
thousands
of
dollars
on
a
mobile
application
called
the
“randomizer.”
You
may
have
seen
these
while
traveling
through
an
airport;
an
arrow
on
a
screen
of
an
iPad
that
randomly
tells
passengers
to
go
to
the
left
or
right
line.
As
Mashable
notes:
“If
the
app
looks
simple,
that's
because
it
is.
As
others
have
pointed
out,
such
an
app
could
easily
be
created
by
any
beginning-level
coder.
(In
fact,
creating
a
random
number
generator
is
a
commonly
used
beginning
programming
lesson.)
Yet
this
app
was
apparently
worth
tens
of
thousands
of
dollars
to
the
TSA.
While
the
documents
don't
mention
the
randomizer
app
by
name,
documents
detailing
the
$336,413.59
contract
were
provided…in
response
to
a
FOIA
request
for
documents
relating
to
the
randomizer
software.
Other
publicly
available
records
show
the
app
was
part
of
a
larger
contract
with
IBM
worth
more
than
$1.4
million.
The
total
development
cost
for
the
randomizer
app
was
$47,400,
a
TSA
spokesperson
told
Mashable,
which
was
part
of
the
$336,413.59
contract.
The
spokesperson
declined
to
elaborate
on
what
else
the
contract
entailed.”
Shockingly,
Daily
Mail
makes
the
point
that
this
app,
which
cost
$47,000
to
develop,
could
have
been
developed
for
just
$20!
Even
Mother
Jones
acknowledged
in
their
headline:
“TSA
Sets
New
Coding
Standard:
$47,000
Per
Hour
for
iPad
Apps”
It
is
silly,
irresponsible,
and
downright
wasteful
to
spend
our
tax
dollars
on
this
app,
when
TSA
agents
could
instead
simply
flip
a
coin
and
deliver
the
same
results!
Because
of
this
wasteful
spending,
I
hereby
present
the
TSA
Randomizer
app
with
this
month’s
Squeal
Award.
Do
you
have
an
example
of
government
waste
or
inefficiencies
that
I
should
take
a
look
at?
Send
me
an
email
by clicking
here.
To
learn
more
about
what
I'm
doing
to
make
'em
squeal
click
here.
Thank
you!
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