National Science Foundation studies gossip and workplace politics in elementary school

$1.47 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund a 3-D virtual recreation of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair

National Science Foundation funds self-help for Members of Congress

$1.57 million stimulus grant to search for fossils… in Argentina

Thirty companies ranked among the most egregious offenders of state and federal laws awarded more than $1.2 billion in federal stimulus contracts

Taxpayers paid $24,000 per car under federal Cash for Clunkers program

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There are millions of tweets every day, and the government is paying scientists $678,000 to read them and measure the happiness of the written expressions

National Science Foundation discovers the cure for politicians’ dismal approval ratings; Taxpayer funded researchers to brief Congress on how to increase constituent trust and approval ratings this Friday

The right to free speech now includes government subsidized cell phones; Phone companies receive up to $10 a month in government subsidies to cover what amounts to about $3 in service per beneficiary

“Cell phone ownership is a right,” says company that provides taxpayer subsidized phones

Taxpayers subsidize about $32 of the cost of a train ticket for every Amtrak passenger

Despites the massive $787 billion in federal stimulus spending, the national unemployment rate rises to nearly 9.8 percent and the nation marks the 21st month of net job losses, longer than at any time since the Great Depression…

The White House says stimulus spending has already had its biggest impact and probably won’t contribute to significant growth next year

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Medicaid paid for prescriptions written for 1,800 dead patients and 1,200 prescriptions “written” by dead physicians

Medicare paid up to $92 million for medical services ordered by dead doctors, some of whom had been dead for more than 10 years

Social Security Administration sent out $250 stimulus checks to 10,000 people who are deceased, some of which have been dead for several decades

U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed $1.1 billion in federal farm aid to the estates or companies of deceased farmers

San Francisco receives federal funding for AIDS patients who died decades ago

Dallas Housing Authority spent federal funds to subsidize housing for 45 deceased clients

New Jersey spending federal stimulus funds to keep an eye out for graffiti

National Science Foundation researchers study the cure for low approval ratings of members of Congress

“The groundbreaking study … found that online deliberative forums are likely to sway swing voters in favor of the lawmaker holding the online forum,” says taxpayer funded study

Taxpayer funded study claims online town hall meetings increase constituents’ approval of politicians and likelihood of voting to re-elect a politician to Congress

Department of Energy will spend $151 million for “radical” research projects, “most of which will probably fail”

Congressman supported at least $44 million in earmarks for companies that did not operate in his home state, nearly all of which donated to his campaign just before or soon after receiving the promise of federal money

House subcommittee plans Honolulu junket to check on stimulus spending

Vinegar producer in Nebraska gets start up funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Boyz Nite Out: Cover band concert underwritten with federal stimulus funds

Indiana city spending $625,000 in federal transportation funds to place 40 decorative street lights

Las Vegas Boulevard, littered with strip bars and casinos, named a National Scenic Byway, making it eligible for federal funds to promote the strip

Las Vegas’ Neon Museum receives $300,000 federal grant to restore two signs

National park superintendent who viewed thousands of sexually explicit images on a government computer during work hours will not be fired and has been reassigned to another job within the National Park Service

Washington Wine Commission receives federal funds to promote wine in Mexico and India

Federal funds to teach wine-makers about popular varieties of grapes

The $3.7 million Department of Education grant will pay to teach the Tlingit language, currently spoken by less than 200 people

$446,000 federal grant paid for a 10-day Tlingit language immersion retreat at Glacier Bay Lodge for a few more than 30 people

The Center for Wooden Boats receives federal stimulus funds to hire an assistant boatwright

Michigan Department of Human Services may have improperly spent $163.8 million of federal dollars intended to assist vulnerable children

Today’s edition identifies at least $333 million in wasteful Washington spending.

-$300 million stimulus program to promote energy efficiency may not be energy efficient after all, audit finds

-Quid Pro Pork: Department of Justice investigates link between the exchange of congressional earmarks and campaign donations

-Washington, DC, city government steered $4.5 million in federal funds to an AIDS housing group that never filed federal tax returns and has been plagued with service and cost complaints

-DC mayor launches investigation of groups that misspent more than $25 million of public AIDS assistance

-Political scientists debate the relevancy of the research they conduct with federal funds; “We’re kidding ourselves if we think this research typically has the obvious public benefit we claim for it.”

-National Science Foundation funds political science study of online town hall meetings held by Members of Congress (more…)

Free golf carts available from federal stimulus program

Annual U.S. federal budget deficit reaches an all time high of $1.42 trillion in 2009; Government spending jumped to more than $3.5 trillion, increasing over 18% in one year

The Pentagon pays an average of $400 to put a gallon of fuel into a combat vehicle or aircraft in Afghanistan

As AIDS patients die in the streets of our nation’s capital, millions of dollars in federal AIDS funds misspent by the city on nepotism, ghost employees, and executive travel and pay

No punishment for National Park Service employee, paid $145,000-a-year, who used his government computer to view thousands of sexually explicit images?

National Science Foundation pays to develop a reverse karaoke application for iPhone

As Florida’s jobless rate reaches 11 percent…

… More than $2.3 million in federal economic stimulus grants go to Florida cosmetology and massage schools to pay tuition for the hairdressers, masseuses and nail technicians of tomorrow

$300,000 in federal stimulus money pays to map radioactive rabbit turds from a helicopter

$445 million worth of congressional earmarks compromise the priorities of the Energy Department

$2.6 billion diverted from guns and ammunition for troops to pay for politicians’ pet projects

Two men imprisoned for skimming money from a $8.2 million congressional earmark funded through the Defense Department

Go fish: $1 million of stimulus funds spent to catch fish in Utah

The Federal Highway Administration urging localities to impose tolls on motorists who drive during rush hour

The Federal Highway Administration tells Indiana it has too many billboards along the state’s roads

Taxpayers foot the bill for office items lost or stolen by members of Congress

Half-a-million dollar NSF stimulus grant pays to search for alternatives to Facebook

Stimulus funds pay to create an online database of bugs

Stimulus funds to pay for talking buses in Ohio; Human voices to replace beeping sounds that alert pedestrians of approaching buses

Congressmen successfully pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve medical device manufactured by campaign contributor

Spending bills stalled by decision of Appropriations Committees to withhold government reports from the public and other members of Congress

Political ‘scientists’ lobby to keep millions of dollars in federal science grants

Congress will spend more than $100 million to put sand on beaches

Trendiness of baby names being studied by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation

Federal government spends millions of dollars on a floating canal museum, a Corvette museum, the National Packard Museum, and other museums of questionable merit

Costly AIDS vaccine study touted as a breakthrough may actually be a bust or boondoggle

Streetcar to nowhere: Stimulus funds may pay to construct an Atlanta streetcar but city may not even have the funds to operate it once it is built

$181 million stimulus project wasn’t shovel ready after all and local residents applaud decision to withdraw it from the state’s list of stimulus projects

Funding to assist rebuilding projects after Hurricane Katrina spent on sod for a stadium

Senator Byrd earmarks $5 million in Defense funds for a company that no longer exists

House committee earmarks $103 million of Defense funds to contractors who employ the congressmen’s former staffers-turned-lobbyists

National Science Foundation studies the bug splatter on the front bumper of a moving vehicle

National Historic Site in Maryland created by a congressional earmark costs $638,000 a year and has fewer visitors than some Alaskan parks that can’t even be reached by road

New USDA research agency already wants more money

Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration might need a federal bailout

Most Interior Department law enforcement programs can not accurately account for the firearms under their control and some of their guns are vulnerable to theft

Bureau of Land Management employees too cozy with special interest groups and lobbyists, according to the Inspector General

A new computer system key to the nation’s air traffic control system has already run into problems, raising doubts about whether it can be operational when the current computers must be replaced

California has paid more than $8 million in late-payment penalties over the last two years because Sacramento did not pay the bills when they were owed

From the great folks at Sen. Tom Coburn’s office:

Political scientists lobbying Congress for federal subsidies

The National Science Foundation spends about $8 million annually to support political science research

Research sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force attempts to predict individuals’ political affiliation based on Facebook profiles

Congress earmarks $3 million to a company owned by Goldman Sachs and two private equity funds

Congress raids the military’s maintenance budget to pay for $5 million earmark for digital scrapbooks

The Federal Aviation Administration has spent more than $270 million in federal stimulus grants on projects that scored poorly on the agency’s own national priority rating system

Department of Homeland Security steers nearly $1 million in federal funding, typically distributed to fire departments, to ACORN

Money intended for soldiers fighting war is instead being spent on senators’ home-state pet projects

Defense spending bill contains an earmark that has nothing to do with national defense, $20 million for an institute honoring late Senator Ted Kennedy

Maryland Senator earmarks tens of millions of dollars in a defense spending bill for her top campaign donors

New Jersey receives $4.8 million earmark to increase the size of Long Beach Island beaches and dunes

National Science Foundation hands out taxpayer cash in experiment to determine if birth order affects willingness to make risky economic decisions

Federal grant pays to design and build an exhibit about the significance of lacrosse

Keep on Truckin’:

Grateful Dead archive receives $615,175 federal grant; “The ultimate goal… is that everyone will have a Grateful Dead experience”

Renovation project at the Bill Clinton presidential center will receive $2.5 million of federal stimulus funds

North Carolina Department of Transportation spending $1.2 million of federal stimulus funds to renovate a lighthouse and another $3 million to paint a bridge

Congress approves $250 million increase in its own budget

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Today’s Pork Report from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) identies at least $315 million in wasteful Washington spending:

Congress boosts its own budget by $250 million; Increase will pay to hire consultants, hold receptions, and send postcards to voters

Only 16% of Americans believe Congress is doing a good job

Medicaid spends $65 million on prescription drug abuse, including paying for thousands of prescriptions for dead patients

Puppet theater in Philadelphia receives federal stimulus funds

80% of Boston’s music festival being paid for with federal stimulus funds; The six-concert, three-day event plans to “jump-start the classical music season and the national economy”

Nevada spending federal stimulus funds to underwrite “crucial festival director position”

Despite being in good financial shape, Idaho festival receives stimulus funds to pay for next year’s festival

Today’s edition of Sen. Coburn’s Pork Report identifies at least $108.4 million in wasteful Washington Spending.

Despite being in good condition, Hollywood’s Sunset Strip will get a $7 million face lift with federal stimulus funds

Employee misconduct investigations, often involving workers accessing pornography from government computers, grew sixfold last year at the National Science Foundation; The problems were so pervasive, the agency’s inspector general had to cut back on its primary mission of investigating grant fraud and recovering misspent tax dollars

Senior government executives earned higher raises and bonuses last year

Defense appropriations bill steers over $100 million to campaign donors for pork projects not wanted by the Pentagon

Pork Rx; Federal government would pay 100% of the cost of Medicaid expansion in the Senate Majority Leader’s state under new health care bill

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