FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 24, 2016
Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343
Sen. Rand Paul Highlights $1.8 Billion in Wasteful Spending Through Weekly Waste Reports
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rand Paul this week highlights 52 weeks of ‘The Waste Report,’ which is an ongoing project cataloguing egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government.
Over the last year alone, the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) under Sen. Paul’s leadership has uncovered over $1.8 billion in wasteful spending on frivolous projects. This level of spending, which equates to nearly $35 million per week, matches the tax liability of approximately 250,000 average American taxpayers.
‘The Waste Report’ can be found HERE.
The most recent edition of ‘The Waste Report’ focused upon the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii. The center, established in 1960, receives millions in federal funding each year to promote diplomacy with Asian and Pacific islands nations. These nations include China and Japan, two of our nation’s two largest foreign creditors already, from which our government has borrowed $3.4 trillion to cover our annual deficit.
Other examples of wasteful government spending uncovered through ‘The Waste Report’ include $8 million spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs to purchase solar panels that were never used and $28 million spent on heavy equipment lost by the Department of Defense in Afghanistan.
To put this in perspective, 250,000 is roughly the number of people living in Durham, NC or Irvine, CA and just below the number of Americans living in Louisville, KY.
In addition to the $1.8 billion spent on the wasteful projects highlighted in ‘The Waste Report,’ the March 7th edition of the report stressed the long-term fiscal dangers posed by the ever-growing national debt.
This year the federal government spent $255 billion for interest on our debt, meaning that every American owes about $800 this year to pay for interest alone. If you consider only those who pay their taxes, this figure rises to $2,700 per taxpayer.
Each week, ‘The Waste Report’ will continue to release examples of wasteful government spending to show taxpayers where their money is going.
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