Millions of the federal dollars misspent on cars, boats and travel by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Social Security Administration overpaid millions of dollars in Supplemental Security Income payments; Thirty percent of agency’s payments miscalculated

DOJ crime prevention programs uses poetry and rap to fight crimes involving guns and gangs

Investigation into whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made good use of $900 million stopped because the agency’s records are “incomplete”

Texas residents unhappy with unnecessary FEMA plan to post 400 signs showing how high the storm surge would be in a major hurricane

National Science Foundation studies words people use to describe videos, photographs and webpages on the internet

The Secretary of Transportation says “it’s fun playing Santa Claus to states and cities around the nation”

…as the Department of Transportation furloughs federal bridge and road inspectors

Washington politicians and bureaucrats enjoy ‘lavish’ government pensions; Federal employees can draw on their pension beginning at age 50 and can get as much as 80 percent of their final salary

National Institutes of Health spends $3.9 million to develop ‘Avatar’ sex-ed video game for kids

National Science Foundation pays to produce a “free” CD for road trips on a highway in California

Director of Louisiana housing agency charged taxpayers for personal expenses; Unallowable charges included a $150 bill at hair salon, items from a sporting goods store and Wal-Mart, and telephone and electric bills

BAILOUT WATCH: Fannie Mae seeking a $15.3 billion bailout

78 percent of Americans say government spending is out of control and 59 percent of U.S. citizens do not trust the federal government

Most voters think the country would be better off if most members of Congress were not re-elected, according to a new poll

Company accused of defrauding the government by filing bogus receipts, double billing for the same services and charging government agencies for strippers and prostitutes; A prostitute in Afghanistan was put on the payroll under the “Morale Welfare Recreation” category and the company billed the prostitute’s plane tickets and salary to the government, according to the accusation

The government paid more than $284 million on recruitment, retention and relocation bonuses to federal employees in 2008

California county to spend federal stimulus funds to pay students to make mini- documentaries about professionals whose work the youths find inspiring

A $500,000 federal stimulus grant will pay a consultant to design a promotional campaign to encourage more recycling in Dayton, Ohio

Montana town spends federal stimulus funds to renovate a pavilion used for receptions, craft fairs, dances and class reunions

Federal funds pay to research impact of “fair trade” on flowers from Ecuador and tea produced in South Africa

The Postal Service lost $297 million in the first quarter of the year, marking the Postal Service’s eighth consecutive unprofitable quarter

Despite millions in federal tax credits, wind-equipment manufacturers cut thousands of jobs in the U.S. last year

Las Vegas receives $4.5 million federal grant to build the neon museum

Alaska Senators fight to restore funding for earmark that both President Bush and Obama have tried to eliminate

New Jersey Senator prodded the Federal Reserve to aid a struggling bank whose chairman and vice chairman were big campaign contributors

Media critics agree the U.S. Census Bureau’s $2.5 million Super Bowl ad was one of the worst

$501,940 of federal stimulus aid will help finance an animal shelter, which will include pet bathing areas and a kitten nursery

Only 11% of Americans think the government spends taxpayers’ money wisely and 83% say the size of the federal budget deficit is due to the unwillingness of politicians to cut government spending

75% of voters are angry at the government’s current policies; 59% believe cutting taxes is better than increasing government spending for job-creation, but 72% expect Washington politicians to increase spending instead

Taxpayers billed $1,000 per week for booze and other “in-flight services” for the Speaker of the House that “read like a dream order for a wild frat party”

Hundreds of convicted criminals may have been hired by the U.S. Census Bureau

California wine trail will be getting signs, a new map and an iPhone application thanks to a $98,500 federal stimulus grant given to the Monterey County Growers and Vintners Association

Federal stimulus funds supporting Napa Valley Wine Train, despite local opposition

The federal government “likely overspent by millions” when it negotiated a no bid contract for the $54 million Wine Train stimulus project

The pork bell curve: Boston College has more than doubled what it spends on lobbying and, according to the college’s spokesman, “our earmarks have increased since we started paying [the lobbyists] more.”

The Wine Institute receives $7 million grant to promote wine in foreign countries; Raisin Administrative Committee receives $3 million and the California Walnut Commission pulls in $4.5 million

Bad publicity leads martini & wine bar to withdraw from contract for $25,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant Recovery stimulus funding

A year after the city claimed it needed a billion dollars from the federal government for subway safety upgrades, the District of Columbia spends federal stimulus funds intended for transportation projects to replace garage escalators

Most TSA employees to receive performance-based pay hikes

Taxpayers spent more than $1.1 million to send members of Congress and their staff on junkets to the Copenhagen Climate Summit in Denmark

More than half of the companies that have received federal stimulus dollars to do highway work in Massachusetts have a history of breaking the law

Monterey wine association receives $98,5000 federal stimulus grant

$2 million of federal stimulus money paying to teach Ohio residents how to cut, color and style hair

Atlantic City spends federal stimulus money to pay for more than $276,000 worth of playground equipment

Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new CNN poll

Texas spends federal transportation funds on “spectacular” rest areas that include “state-of-the-art” vending machines and even a Battleship Texas restoration project

Louisiana spent millions of dollars of federal funds intended for health care for low income and uninsured patients to pay for the state’s hazardous road claims

With Palin gone, Bridge to Nowhere may still go somewhere

Jobs agency spent $133,714 of taxpayer funds on exorbitant meals for staff, including iced tea priced at $13 a gallon, cheesecake costing $9 a slice, and a dozen gourmet cupcakes costing $50

Colorado will keep posting roadside signs touting projects funded by federal stimulus and featuring the governor’s name; The state has spent $247,000 of stimulus money posting those signs at about 100 sites in the past year

$2.5 billion in federal funds vulnerable to waste and fraud in Iraqi because of weak contract oversight

Tens of thousands of federal dollars to help disadvantaged high school students and dropouts instead spent on booze, gift cards, electronics, and groceries