Rand Paul's 'Festivus Report' exposes $900B in government squander

[mountaineer]

Rand Paul's 'Festivus Report' exposes $900B in government squander
From funding for A-list to money for Egyptian tourism, here's this year's roster of waste
Jamie Joseph By Jamie Joseph Fox News
Published December 22, 2023 9:27am EST | Updated December 22, 2023 5:16pm EST

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Friday released his annual Christmas "Festivus" report for the ninth year in a row, outlining $900 billion in government waste.

Among notable instances, the National Institutes of Health allocated funds to study Russian cats on treadmills; photos of Barbies were utilized as identification to obtain COVID relief funds; the Department of Defense lost $169 million of outdoor-stored military gear; $6 million went towards tourism in Egypt by the United States Agency for International Development; and the Small Business Administration provided over $200 million to "struggling" music artists such as Post Malone, Chris Brown and Lil Wayne.

Up from $30 trillion in debt in 2022, this year's debt amounts to $34 trillion, the report also highlights.

"Who’s to blame for our crushing level of debt? Everybody," Paul wrote in the report. ...

Rand's report highlighted government spending that included accepting Barbie doll photos to obtain COVID relief funds from a portion of an $800 billion allocation in Paycheck Protection Program funds. Other expenses highlighted were $659 billion for national debt interest, $33.2 million for transgender monkey research, $6 million for boosting Egyptian tourism and an unknown cost for USDA's dog-walking research in summer.

"Researchers found the Labradors’ fur color did not affect their body temperatures after a hot summer’s walk. That’s it. That’s the taxpayerfunded, cutting-edge study," Paul wrote. "The Agricultural Research Service at the USDA, which funded the study at Southern Illinois University, gets $1.7 billion a year from Congress, but it’s unknown how much the hot dog study cost the taxpayer." ...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rand-pauls-festivus-report-exposes-900b-government-squander

[mountaineer]

Barbie doll pictures, meth-head monkeys headline Sen. Rand Paul's 'Festivus Report'
by Christopher Tremoglie, Commentary Writer
December 22, 2023 06:10 PM

Rejoice! For today is the day that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) releases his annual “Festivus Report” for 2023, highlighting the government’s fiscal irresponsibility and the billions of dollars of taxpayer money that the government wasted. It’s arguably a fiscal conservative’s favorite day of the year.

“This year, I am highlighting a whopping ~$900,000,000,000 of waste, including an NIH grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill, Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds, $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and $200 million to ‘struggling artists’ like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne,” Paul’s “Festivus Report” read. “No matter how much money the government has already wasted, politicians keep demanding even more.”

Consider the specifics of some of the Festivus Report’s highlights.

First and foremost, had to be the impact Barbie had on government waste — and it had nothing to do with the much-ballyhooed movie released over the summer. The Festivus Report revealed that many schemers who defrauded the government to get COVID relief money from the Paycheck Protection Program used images of Barbie dolls as part of the verification process. The AI system the government used to verify identities before dispersing the funds was not able to recognize this and, as a result, scammed the government out of millions of dollars set aside for relief efforts.

“What was supposed to be an AI system to verify proof of identity, quickly exposed the stupidity of the program,” the Festivus Report read. “The verification system did not catch the images of dolls uploaded by fraudsters. Somehow the Small Business Administration carelessly approved the applicants from Toyland and sent out improper COVID-19 PPP payments.”

But if paying millions of dollars for Barbie pictures was not bad enough, the Festivus Report also exposed that the government sent $38 million in COVID stimulus payments to people who were dead. This included $10 million dispersed to people who were already deceased “on the date someone applied for funding.” Additionally, $1.3 million was given to “30 individuals who were dead for at least a year.”  ...

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/barbie-doll-pictures-meth-head-monkeys-headline-sen-rand-pauls-festivus-report

[libertybele]

$900Billion - with a B???  Wow. Just think of the border wall that could have been built with that money!

[mountaineer]

Just the $33.2 million for transgender monkey research, redirected to border security, would have been a start.

[rangerrebew]

December 25, 2023
Merry Christmas: Rand Paul continues the tradition and releases the 2023 Festivus Report, citing $900 billion in waste
By Olivia Murray

It’s that time of year again! Time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, gather with family and friends, make gingerbread houses, go Christmas caroling, play in the snow, and… remind yourself how much your government absolutely hates you.

Don’t forget, every holiday season is also time for Rand Paul’s annual Festivus Report, and this year, for the ninth report, Paul highlighted nine hundred billion dollars in waste by the Festivites; from Paul’s opening segment:

This year, I am highlighting a whopping ~$900,000,000,000 of waste, including an NIH grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill, Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds, $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and $200 million to ‘struggling artists’ like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne.

Yes, you read that right. Our (literally) good-for-nothing government got us scammed out of our hard-earned money by pictures of knock-off Barbie dolls and AI-generated freakshows. See the pathetically unpassable images below, that could only be verified as “legitimate” recipients by the stupidest and most feckless Festivites on the planet:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/12/merry_christmas_rand_paul_continues_the_tradition_and_releases_the_2023_festivus_report_citing_900_billion_in_waste.html

[christian]

Biden rule, nearly a TRILLION DOLLARS in government money covered and wasted, on top of our money wasted on radical muslim nations, foreign drug lords, royal benefits to foreigners pouring over our borders, while Americans suffer under loss of jobs, high taxes, and prices ever climbing,  covered by Dementia Joes love of lieing to us.

Is this so much better than Trump?   Well is it?  OR

[Fishrrman]

bele wrote:
"$900Billion - with a B???  Wow. Just think of the border wall that could have been built with that money!"

And that would have left plenty for undertaking the deportation en masse of the illegals who have entered over the last ten years...

[roamer_1]

Y'all ain't seen nothing yet... Government that grows ever larger will continue to be more and more costly, with more and more ways for graft on the back side.

There is only one solution. And until all y'all realize it, the siphon of your treasure will only grow worse.

Governs least, governs best.