(your tax dollars at work)A scathing report from Senator Tom Coburn has identified $3 billion of mismanagement at the National Science Foundation. The report finds that the foundation has squandered billions on questionable studies, poor cost controls, duplicative research, and many other forms of mismanagement.
Some of the scientifically urgent projects include:
- $560,000 to have shrimp run on a treadmill to test their endurance. I know it's very important to me how my dinner performed on a treadmill during its living years.
- $1.5 million to create a robot that can fold laundry. This robot was able to fold one towel in 25 minutes. Come on, even I can fold 2 or 3 towels in the same time.
- $315,000 to study whether Farmville helps adults develop and maintain relationships.
- $80,000 to conclude that successful college basketball programs tend to recruit better players. Who knew?
- $2 million to determine that the same people who post photos at the same place at the same time are probably socially connected. Since I don't have a science degree I couldn't have guessed that.
This is only a fraction of the waste and mismanagement at this single agency. You would think that a government facing a $1.5 trillion deficit might take steps to spend its money wisely.
Treadmills are torture.
ReplyDeleteI just have to say that these reports of scientific study always get touted as ridiculous and as government waste, without considering the broader context. My favorite was when Palin was attacking studies about flies. It turns out the studies concerned genetics and inheritance and was applicable to her newborn son's retardation. This is why America is stupid and believes in Arks and 4000 year old universes. There is a war against science and education in this country, and THAT is a serious problem.
ReplyDeleteThis report wasn't put together by some blogger with a HS education. It was written by U.S. Senator Tom Coburn. Dr. Tom Coburn. A physician who serves in the U.S. Senate would know as well as anyone whether these studies have merit.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, what's the "broader context" of spending taxpayer dollars to study Farmville?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the government should have license to be as wasteful as it wants, as long as they can wrap it in the label of "science".
ReplyDeleteAnd COAST has every right to cherry pick while ignoring the waste on missile shields and multi-million dollar submarines that launch torpedoes that carry 6 troops?
ReplyDeleteWhere's that byline? Oh right, under the category " sacred cows" or "why can't mommy and daddy read?"
Ok I'll bite. I think we should get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and we never should have gotten involved in Libya. We should also close down many overseas military bases.
ReplyDeleteWe have to be willing to cut spending everywhere. That includes the military, entitlement programs, and the type of waste this blog entry reveals. We also should close tax loopholes and resist the urge to enact any further tax cuts that we obviously can't afford.
With smart revenue gains and making spending cuts on all types of programs we could get back control of our country's finances.
From a glance, these studies may sound silly. But if you're going to post an attack on these studies, give us more information and context on the reasoning for the studies. I don't care what your beliefs are, but atleast make a real argument.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of who this report was put together by, it was VERY poorly written. Simply saying that it was written by a U.S. Senator is not a good enough reason to say that this argument is valid.
No further information is needed to understand that these studies are bogus and a waste of taxpayer money. The government needs to make these cuts.
ReplyDeleteNow i know where the gov spend the tax...
ReplyDelete