Unwanted, Unneeded, Taxpayer-Funded Gifts

You know that Christmas present from your grandma that you didn’t want and will never use? We’ve all gotten them. But have you ever given one of those gifts?

Whether you realize it or not – your tax dollars have paid for them! In fact, good ‘ole Uncle Sam may be the ultimate crummy gift giver – spending more than a billion dollars on unwanted, unneeded, and unusable items that cannot be returned, exchanged, or even re-gifted.

And I’m not talking about a fruitcake or ugly sweater, folks. These are multi-million dollar government projects that do little more than waste your hard-earned tax dollars.

Take, for example, the Pentagon. Despite the repeated objections of three generals, the Department of Defense wasted $36 million to construct an extravagant 64,000 square-foot headquarters in Afghanistan that “wasn’t needed, wasn’t wanted, and wasn’t used.”

And at the State Department, despite “serious” concerns of senior officials, $6.5 million of your hard-earned money was spent on telecommunication towers that COULD NOT BE USED.

Is there anything worse than receiving a broken toy or shirt in the wrong color as a present?

Uncle Sam has got you covered with these purchases:

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Click here or on the image above to watch this month's Squeal TV.


December Squeal Award: The Federal Government

Folks, there is nothing jolly about Uncle Sam’s continued waste of taxpayer money on unwanted projects that will never be used. For these reasons, I’m giving my December Squeal Award to the federal government.

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Congress’s New Year’s resolution needs to be addressing these problems and reigning in wasteful government spending.  Part of that means funding the government in regular order. That’s why I’ve introduced the No Budget, No Recess Act, prohibiting Congress from going on recess if a budget and funding bills have not been approved ON TIME. I’m also advocating for the No Budget, No Pay Act, which withholds pay from members of Congress until the budget process is completed.

Uncle Sam’s bad gift giving is costing taxpayers billions of dollars for unwanted, unneeded, and unusable items. It’s time Congress gives the American people something they actually want for Christmas—a solution.


Do you have an example of government waste or inefficiencies that I should take a look at? Send me an email by clicking here.

Thank you!