(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., unveiled the Festivus Report 2023 to highlight the colossal $900,000,000,000 of taxpayer dollars “wasted” in government spending.
The 25-page report marked the ninth consecutive year of the report, shedding light on how the federal government uses taxpayer money.
Happy #Festivus and have a Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/FJrkDwGTRW
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 23, 2023
Among the most striking findings included a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for the study of Russian cats walking on a treadmill and the use of Barbie Dolls as proof of ID for COVID-related Paycheck Protection Program.
Additionally, the report accused the Department of Defense of wasting over $169 million in military equipment by leaving it unattended outside.
The U.S. Agency for International Development spent $6 million in taxpayer dollars to promote tourism in Egypt, and the Small Business Administration granted a hefty $200 million to some of the most popular music artists in the nation. According to the report, Post Malone, Chris Brown and Lil Wayne are among the SBA grant recipients.
Paul criticized his colleagues in both parties for voting to raise the debt ceiling, allowing the federal government to borrow “an unlimited amount of money until 2024.”
He added, “The same big spenders teamed up, yet again, to continue sending Americans’ hard-earned money to foreign countries and funding endless wars, all while ignoring our porous southern border.”
The senator also highlighted the national debt, which is approaching what Paul described as an “astronomical” $30 trillion.
This amount is likely to increase, Paul noted, citing the Congressional Budget Office.
“The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $2 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. The U.S. government will add over $5 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years. We borrow over $200 million every hour, we borrow $3 million every minute, and we borrow $60,000 every second,” he continued.
Other findings include “improper” federal payments ($236 billion), payments to “dead people” ($38 million), a reported “Monkey Island” led by Dr. Anthony Fauci ($32.2 million) and a study on transgender monkey ($477,121).
Merry Christmas! (Wait for the end for my Dad’s special message) pic.twitter.com/T5fFabYjgX
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 24, 2023
