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The Festivus Report 2024

Happy Festivus!

How is 2024 already wrapping up? It feels like we blinked, and history dumped a year’s worth of plot twists
on us. Donald Trump dodged two assassination attempts, Vice President Kamala Harris ousted President
Biden from the presidential race last minute only to fail spectacularly, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris
captured global attention with a brilliant display of breakdancing from our friends in Australia, and
November handed control of Congress to the Republicans. Yet, even amid these seismic events, one issue
remained unchanged—the ever-mounting national debt.

Last Festivus, we bemoaned the national debt nearing $34 trillion. In just a year, Washington’s career
politicians and bureaucrats have managed to push it beyond $36 trillion—unsurprisingly, with hardly a
second thought.

Who’s to blame for our crushing national debt? Everybody. This year, members of both political parties in
Congress voted for massive spending bills, filled with subsidies for underperforming industries, continued
military aid to Ukraine, and controversial climate initiatives. As Congress spends to reward its favored pet
projects, the American taxpayers are forced to pay through high prices and crippling interest rates.

The same big spenders teamed up, yet again, to continue sending Americans’ hard-earned money to
foreign countries, funding endless wars, all while STILL ignoring our wide-open southern border.

And our mountain of debt will continue to pile even higher. The Congressional Budget Office predicts we
will add an average of $2.1 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. According to a July House Budget
Committee Report, the U.S. government will add over $6.4 billion of debt every single day for the next ten
years, borrowing over $268 million every hour, $4.5 million every minute, and over $74,401 every second.

This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12. That’s over $1 trillion in government waste,
including things like ice-skating drag queens, a $12 Million Las Vegas pickleball complex, $4,840,082 on
Ukrainian influencers, and more! No matter how much money the government has wasted, politicians keep
demanding even more.

As always, taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but I’ve been fighting government
waste like DOGE before DOGE was cool. And I will continue my fight against government waste this
holiday season.

So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (spending) Grievances!

I have a lot of problems with federal spending, and

now it’s time to hear all about them!
Ghost Towns on the Government's Dime: The federal government spent $10 billion on maintaining, leasing, and
furnishing almost entirely empty buildings

A Pandemic Plunder: A Florida man stole $8 million in COVID-19 Relief funds to buy an island and more

Your Tax Dollars at Play: The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent $12 Million on a Las Vegas Pickleball Complex

Taxpayers Fund a Disinformation Index: The Department of State (DOS) wasted $330,000 to fund censorship of non-
liberal and conservative media

Snack Attack: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded a $2 million grant to study kids looking at
Facebook ads about food

Taxpayers Dollars Down the Drain in Nevis: The Department of State (DOS) spent $108,272 on a non-functioning hotel

Direct File Fail: Congress spent $15 million to turn the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into an unconstitutional force to
prepare, file, and audit your hard-earned money

Oh Rats! HHS Spends Nearly Half a Million on a Depressing Study of Lonely, Starved Rats: The Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) spent $419,470 to determine if lonely rats seek cocaine more than happy rats

Hold on to Your Steering Wheels: The Department of Energy (DOE) spent $15.5 billion to push Americans toward electric
vehicles they don't want

The Influencer Effect Hits Foreign Policy: The Department of State (DOS) squandered $4,840,082 on influencers

Cirque du Taxpayer: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) spent $365,000 to promote circuses in city parks

Girls Just Wanna Have Funds: The Department of State (DOS) spent $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil

A State Department Production Featuring Your Hard-Earned Money: The Department of State (DOS) paid the Royal
Film Commission $873,584 for movies in Jordan

Goalposts and Grandstanding: The Department of State (DOS) spent $345,434 on football engagement to counter
terrorism

When Bailouts Go Bust: The United States Department of the Treasury (USDT) granted a failed trucking company a $700
million pandemic-era loan

Flocking Together! DEI Takes Flight: The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $288,563 to ensure bird watching
groups have safe spaces aka “Affinity Groups”

Interest-ingly Wasteful: Americans are paying $892 billion in fiscal year 2024 on the interest on Uncle Sam’s Credit Card

Hashtag to Handouts in Ethiopia: The Department of State (DOS) spent $500,000 to expand the U.S. Embassy in
Ethiopia’s #USInvestsInEthiopians social media campaign to a larger national public relations campaign

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, There Goes Your Tax Dollars Too! The federal government spent $7,026,689 on various magical
projects

Because Who Needs a Secure U.S. Border, Anyway? The Department of State (DOS) spent $2.1 million for Paraguayan
Border Security

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The High Price of High Line Art: Since 2015 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded $385,000 for art
displays on the High Line

Money to Manure: The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $20 million on the Fertilize Right Initiative to advance
fertilizer use in Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil

Fauci Funded Feline COVID Experiments: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) spent $2.24 million on COVID experiments

Going Viral for World Peace: The Department of State (DOS) is spending $123,066 to teach Kyrgyzstan youth how to go
viral

Spinning Kittens for Science and Motion Sickness: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $1,513,299 on a study
of waste and cruelty

Cat-Stipated?: The Department of Defense (DOD) spent $10,851,439 on Orwellian cat experiments

More Ducking Waste in Mexico: The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent $720,479 on wetland conservation projects for
ducks in Mexico

Big Bird Goes to Baghdad: The Agency for International Development (USAID) is spending $20 million on “Ahlan Simsim”
a new Sesame Street show in Iraq

News We Wish Was Fake: The Department of State (DOS) sent $253,653 to Bosnia to fight “misinformation”

Abandon Ship: The Navy Sinks Billions on LCS Vessels: The U.S. Navy is set to waste almost $90 billion on ineffective
Navy vessels

Dragging Tax Dollars onto Thin Ice: The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded the Bearded Ladies Cabaret a
$10,000 grant to support a cabaret show on ice skates focused on climate change

Taxpayers Get Spun: The Department of State (DOS) allocated $32,596.12 for breakdancing

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 issue either. In a 2022 waste report, I noted the
Ghost Towns on the government spent $1.7 billion on 77,000 empty,
unused properties. ii
Government's Dime
The federal government spent $10 billion on Despite empty offices, the federal
maintaining, leasing, and furnishing almost government also spent $3.3 billion on high-
entirely empty buildings end office commodities between 2020 and
2022. iii

To share just a couple examples, while the CDC

fear-mongered the American public into closing
schools and wearing ineffective masks, it was
busy installing solar-powered picnic tables
costing a total of $237,960.

Source: GAO-23-106200

As the average American taxpayers struggle to

pay rent, their hard-earned dollars are ironically
funneled into more real estate—Uncle Sam's
deserted buildings and storage facilities. A recent
Government Accountability Office (GAO) report
highlights a glaring inefficiency. Our
government senselessly wasted nearly $10
billion on empty offices. i

Most federal offices are ghost towns, with 17 out Source: Disease Control and Prevention, EnerFusion Inc.
of 24 agencies using only 25% or less of their
space in 2023. Even the busiest offices barely Another example of this outrageous spending
reach 50% capacity. This problem predates the comes from the Pension Benefit Guaranty
pandemic, but COVID-19's telework boom made Corporation’s (PBGC) $15 million splurge on
it worse. These buildings were underused new furniture even though its offices largely
even before we all learned how to unmute remain empty.
ourselves on Zoom.
The GAO’s findings are a call to action: it’s time to
The GAO calculated building capacity based on get serious about office space management.
usable square feet per employee. It found that Trimming down on unused space and not
many of these buildings are just oversized, spending our hard-earned cash to furnish
expensive storage units for empty desks. those empty offices could save a bundle,
freeing up funds for more pressing needs—
In addition to the whopping $2 billion annual like literally anything else.
maintenance cost, the federal government is
spending $5 billion on leases. This isn’t a new

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 opportunity for plunder that only Blackbeard
A Pandemic Plunder could have imagined.

A Florida man stole $8 million in COVID-19 Walsh's case is just one jewel in a treasure trove
Relief funds to buy an island and more of governmental oversight failures where the
swindlers of the pandemic relief programs ran
rampant. According to an analysis by the
Associated Press, individuals engaged in
fraudulent activities potentially stole over $280
billion from COVID-19 relief funding, with
an additional $123 billion being squandered
or misused.

These losses account for approximately 10% of

the $4.2 trillion that the U.S. government has
allocated thus far for COVID-19 relief aid.

Additionally, the AP report provides some

Source: Sweetheart Island, one of the purchases made by fraudster illuminating commentary: "Here was this sort of
Patrick Parker Walsh. Julio Aguilar / Associated Press endless pot of money that anyone could
access," said Dan Fruchter, chief of the fraud
Amidst the serene Floridian beauty, a dark tale of and white-collar crime unit at the U.S. Attorney's
modern piracy unfolds. Patrick Parker Walsh, a office in the Eastern District of Washington. vi
Florida businessman turned pandemic plunderer,
made headlines for his audacious escapades. iv The real casualty of this isn't just the theft of 8
million dollars but the erosion of trust in
He stole nearly $8 million in federal COVID-19 government. It's a cautionary tale for Congress
relief funds to buy Sweetheart Island, a private and federal agencies: always read the fine
paradise of his own. This bold act of fraud, which print, especially when safeguarding $4.2
led to his sentencing to 66 months in federal trillion of Americans' hard-earned money from
prison, sheds light on a saga of taxpayer dollars the clutches of modern-day pirates.
gone astray and governmental mismanagement.
v

The court documents illustrate brazen acts of

deceit: 16 fraudulent applications for Paycheck
Protection Program (PPP) loans featuring
fictitious employees and companies fabricated
out of thin air. These documents outline a
staggering $11,950,439 in requested PPP loan
funds, of which he managed to obtain
$4,996,167.

Unsatisfied with one illicit endeavor, he delved

into Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs),
raking in an extra $2,822,000 through
deceptive applications.

With little oversight or accountability, the

COVID-19 relief programs represented an
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 Your Tax Dollars at Play
The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent
$12 Million on a Las Vegas Pickleball
Complex

Source: KSNV

However, not everyone in Sin City is happy

about this development. According to local
news outlet KSNV, “Homeowners had petitioned
the city to vote against the agreement and
consider moving the complex elsewhere citing
concerns about noise nuisance, increased traffic
and parking congestion, and an overall decrease
in their quality of life and home value.” ix
Source: City of Las Vegas

There's irony in a city synonymous with high-

Ah, the federal budget—an enigmatic beast
stakes gambling investing 12 million American
where our hard-earned money transforms into
tax dollars in pickleball—a sport often associated
a kaleidoscope of public projects, some of
with retirees looking for a low-stakes, leisurely
which make us scratch our heads and ask,
pastime. In short, you've been pickled!.
"Really?" The 2024 Festivus Waste Report
shines a spotlight on a grant that's bouncing its
way into the hearts of pickleball enthusiasts
everywhere: the grand vision of a 30-court
regional pickleball complex in Las Vegas,
Nevada. vii

Apparently, Las Vegas has more pickleball

players than Elvis impersonators, and these
racket-wielding enthusiasts are running out of
places to play. The city's pickleball players are
in such a pickle that the federal government has
set aside 5.43 acres to ensure they have ample
space to serve, volley, and smash their way to
pickler fame. viii

Not to mention, the architects of this complex aim

to put Las Vegas on the global pickleball map by
hosting tournaments from local to international
levels. Move over "World Series of Poker,"
there's a new game in town.

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 effectively making it tougher for them to secure
Taxpayers Fund a advertising and compete in the marketplace of
ideas.
Disinformation Index—But
the Real Fake News is That These lists were then handed off to Xandr, an
advertising firm owned by Microsoft. Xandr and
It’s Useful! other companies took the bait and refused to
place ads on websites that GDI slapped with a
The Department of State (DOS) wasted “risky” label, according to emails leaked to the
$330,000 to fund censorship of non-liberal Washington Examiner. xi So, taxpayers footed
and conservative media the bill for an attack on free speech.

Among the ten "riskiest" outlets identified by GDI

are The New York Post, American Spectator,
Newsmax, The American Conservative, The
Blaze, One America News, The Daily Wire,
Reason, RealClearPolitics, and The Federalist.
Their crime? Not toeing the line of a particular
political narrative. xii

Meanwhile, left-leaning outlets like The New York

Times, HuffPost, NPR, and BuzzFeed, were
conveniently labeled as “less risky.”
Source: UnHerd, Clare Melford is co-founder of the 'Global Disinformation
Index’
This is nothing short of a disgraceful misuse of
public funds, aimed squarely at stifling free
Historically, the largest purveyor of disinformation speech, competition, and manipulating public
is the U.S. government, without question. And discourse. It’s an attack on the very freedoms
now, once again, the government has decided to this country was built on.
position itself as the ultimate judge of what’s true
and what’s not. The latest chapter in this ongoing
saga involves the State Department channeling
taxpayer dollars into efforts to silence non-liberal
and conservative voices.

Through the National Endowment for

Democracy—a private foundation bankrolled by
the State Department—and the Global
Engagement Center, $330,000 of your money
was handed over to the Global Disinformation
Index (GDI). x

It’s bad enough the U.S. government is wasting

your money, but now they’re using it to undermine
your freedom—with the help of GDI, a British
organization, no less!

With your tax dollars, GDI cooked up a so-

called “disinformation index” to blacklist
conservative and non-liberal media outlets,
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 priority, the necessity of such a study might raise
Snack Attack a few eyebrows, especially considering that
similar research has consistently arrived at the
The Department of Health and Human same conclusion: there is a notable link between
Services (HHS) awarded a $2 million grant food advertising and the eating behaviors of
to study kids looking at Facebook ads about young people. xiv
food
Let's break down what this really means. We're
talking about taxpayer dollars funding a study to
Ever notice how a seemingly harmless Oreo ad watch teens watch ads. Then, those teens eat
on your social media feed can suddenly ignite a snacks. Finally, researchers use fancy eye-
craving you didn't even know you had? It feels tracking technology to see where the teens are
like a no-brainer to conclude that advertising looking—because apparently, finding out if
affects our eating habits—we’ve all been tempted they're staring at the chips, the "likes," or the
by a well-placed snack ad. model is a matter of national importance.

Yet, what seems obvious to the everyday It's like Big Brother, but instead of monitoring
consumer has warranted an extensive, for national security threats, we're monitoring
taxpayer-funded investigation at one of the for snack attacks.
nation's leading universities. It's like we're
paying to prove water is wet. One might reasonably predict that this latest
study will echo the findings of its predecessors,
reaffirming what we already know—ads work,
and they work well. However, is this the most
pressing issue that warrants such a hefty
investment of federal funds? In a world
brimming with challenges to the safety and health
of our children, one must question the necessity
of a deeper understanding of Doritos' Facebook
ad strategies.

Indeed, the idea of spending millions to

revalidate established knowledge could be seen
as redundant at best. The key question
Source: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/6/1934
remains: Will this new research bring any
groundbreaking insights, or are we merely
The Department of Health and Human repeating the same experiments with a
Services has allocated a generous $2 million slightly different flavor?
to a research team at New York University,
tasking them with a mission to unravel the
influence of social media food advertising on
the dietary choices of adolescents. xiii While
the well-being of our youth is undoubtedly a top

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 still tapped to foot the bill for everything from
Taxpayer Dollars Down the electrical wiring and plumbing repairs to roof
sealing. xvi
Drain in Nevis — A Hotel
That Is No Longer A Hotel The AFCP is known for being highly competitive,
with cultural organizations from around the world
The Department of State (DOS) spent vying for a slice of the limited funding pie. While
$108,272 on a non-functioning hotel preserving cultural heritage is important, it raises
the question: Shouldn’t we prioritize our own
backyard before spending taxpayer dollars
abroad on a hotel that doesn’t even operate?

And here’s the kicker: this renovation plan

has been gathering dust since 2011 xvii, only
now being funded by U.S. taxpayers, who have
been cast as the unwitting financiers of this folly.
It seems we’ve been patiently waiting for over a
decade to throw money into a project that doesn’t
have a practical endgame.

Source: Destinations, Detours and Dreams website.

What do you get when you mix U.S. taxpayer

dollars with a crumbling, non-functional hotel in
the Caribbean? Apparently, a $108,000 bill.

As part of the Department of State’s Global

Ambassador’s Fund for Preservation (AFCP
program), in 2023, the Bath Hotel in Nevis, a Source: Nevis Island Administration website.
building that hadn’t operated as a hotel for
years, with a bath house that is boarded up It’s another case of our government’s misplaced
and not in use anymore, received a substantial priorities, where taxpayers foot the bill for
renovation funded by a grant from the U.S. projects that don’t serve the public or make
Embassy. economic sense.

The grant aims to preserve the historical The Bath Hotel project is a prime example of why
features of the Bath Hotel and bring the we need to scrutinize where our money goes—
building up to safety standards. xv and demand better.

Putting aside the fact this grant sends your tax

dollars overseas, there’s one glaring issue: The
Bath Hotel isn’t open for business and hasn’t
been for a long time! Yet U.S. taxpayers were

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 $15 million to study a system that already exists
Direct File Fail in the private sector and is free to use? xxi
Sounds like classic government waste.
Congress spent $15 million to turn the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into an But wait, there's more! Not only does Direct File
unconstitutional force to prepare, file, and create an unholy amalgamation of IRS tax
audit your hard-earned money authority, it's also unconstitutional! The IRA
only allowed for a study, but the IRS jumped the
gun, developing the system without
Congressional approval.

So, instead of saving Americans money or

lowering inflation, the government is spending
your money on an unconstitutional, expensive,
and largely unwanted project. Wasteful and
unconstitutional? Just another day in
Washington!

Source: IRS

Democrats said they passed the so-called

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to make everyday
items more affordable for hard-working
Americans struggling to make ends meet. Aside
from doing nothing to actually lower inflation, xviii
they also managed to slip in $15 million for a
task force whose purpose is to turn the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) into an unholy force
of tax preparing, filing, and auditing via their
Direct File Pilot program.

The plan? Spend millions to see if the

IRS could take over tax preparation—
because who wouldn't want the same
people auditing them also to do their
taxes? And if you think this was an
unbiased effort, think again.

Democrats handed off the study to a left-

leaning think tank with ties to Obama and
Clinton. xix Independent? Sure, if you squint
hard enough.

According to the Treasury Inspector

General for Tax Administration, only 12%
of taxpayers were eligible to use the
Direct File Pilot program, which could
cost up to $249 million a year. xx Burning
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 Oh Rats! HHS Spends
Nearly Half a Million on a
Study of Lonely, Starved
Rats
The Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) spent $419,470 to determine
if lonely rats seek cocaine more than happy
rats Source: sipa/ Pixabay

After four weeks, researchers compared the

Despite spending over $1 trillion to try and
xxii two groups’ reactions. To no one’s surprise,
solve the drug crisis, cocaine, one of the most the rats subjected to starvation and the more
harmful and addictive drugs, continues to gain isolated environment sought their cocaine-
popularity in communities nationwide. xxiii associated compartments more than those in the
enriched social environment.
Significant funding has been allocated to the
study of cocaine addiction, but there seems to be These types of results aren’t limited to just rats;
no solution in sight. xxiv This raises the question, we saw a clear example of these behaviors in the
how are these scientific studies and grants realworld during the federal government’s
really using your tax dollars? unscientific COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.

One of these studies examining cocaine use took Following lockdowns, NYU determined the
place at New York University (NYU). They isolation of people led to increased levels of
received $419,470 xxv from the Department of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and drug
Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate usage xxvi.
whether rats placed in positive environments would be
more likely to abstain from cocaine than rats in Now, did the government really need to spend
negative and isolating environments. nearly half a million dollars to verify that social
isolation and starvation may lead to increased
While half a million dollars may just be a small drug usage? One thing is for sure, we must
nibble in the grand scheme of the nation’s end this rat-wheel of waste!
growing deficit, those nibbles add up fast.

Researchers first placed rats in small

compartments and injected them with cocaine to
create a positive association with that location.
The rats were then divided into different test
groups. One group was allowed to socialize and
had substantial access to food and toys. The
other group was kept in isolation with no toys and
limited access to food.

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 Rivian reported losses of $1.45 billion in the same
Hold on to Your Steering period. xxxii These numbers are so big they make
Wheels: DOE is Revving Up my head spin faster than a Tesla on Ludicrous+
mode. xxxiii
to Burn Taxpayer Dollars
Still, the Biden Administration is determined to throw
The Department of Energy (DOE) spent $12 billion at automakers to push EV production
$15.5 billion to push Americans toward forward. It’s as if they think throwing taxpayer dollars
electric vehicles they don't want at the problem will magically make us forget that
Americans still prefer their trusty gas-powered
vehicles.

Of the $12 billion, $10 billion will come from the

Energy Department and the additional $2 billion will
come from the Inflation Reduction Act grants. And
that’s not all — The Energy Department will also
make $3.5 billion available to expand domestic
manufacturing of batteries for EVs and the U.S.
grid, despite the fact that most battery materials
are imported from abroad.
It's like trying to bake a cake without any
flour! xxxiv
Source: Joseph Sohm.

President Biden seems to believe that he can

Electric Vehicle owners report to have nearly force Americans to abandon their beloved gas
80% more problems than owners of gas- vehicles by sheer force of will—or sheer force of
powered vehicles xxvii facing issues like unreliable spending. But here's the reality check:
performance, difficulty finding charging stations, EV consumers aren't buying it, literally and
batteries struggling in cold weather, long figuratively. Americans want reliable vehicles that
charging times, higher maintenance costs, and won't leave them stranded, and they
limited driving range. Despite the growing list of aren't clamoring for EVs with all of their
headaches for EV owners, The Biden issues and limitations. xxxv
Administration is eager to waste your hard-
earned dollars on an unpopular transition.

Americans have spoken and they

overwhelmingly prefer reliable gas-powered
vehicles. xxviii So why is the government pouring
money into EVs that face more challenges and
less demand?
Source: Blazer Ev Forum.
Vehicle manufacturers are feeling the sting of
producing vehicles that consumers don't want, The Biden Administration needs to understand that
losing money on every EV car they build xxix. Americans prefer reliability over risk, and it's time to
Ford reported a whopping $1.3 billion loss in its put the brakes on this runaway spending spree.
EV division in the first quarter alone, xxx Lucid
Motors reported losses of $227,000 per car sold,
xxxi and

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 “peacekeeping” like a viral video. xxxviii
The Influencer Effect Hits
But the absurdity doesn’t end there. The State
Foreign Policy Department also splurged $15,220 on an
The Department of State (DOS) squandered “influencers event” xxxix and another $22,231 on
$4,840,082 on influencers a “USAID Social Media Influencers
Campaign.” xl

At a time when Americans are scraping by, it’s

baffling to see our government burning through
As American taxpayers struggle under the weight taxpayer dollars on what amounts to a glorified
of inflation and economic uncertainty, the selfie-fest.
government continues to spend recklessly on
initiatives that serve little purpose and present We need to remind the government that taxpayer
significant risks. dollars should be used to protect our nation’s
interests, not to fund the next viral sensation.
Let’s leave the Instagram fame to someone else
and get back to serious diplomacy.

Source: Getty Images

This time the State Department has decided to

throw millions of dollars at influencers.

Despite American taxpayers providing nearly

$174 billion in aid and military assistance to
Kyiv xxxvi since the beginning of Russia’s war in
Ukraine, someone over at State thought it was a
brilliant idea to drop an additional $4.8 Million
for “KYIV, Ukraine public affairs - Influencer
Staff”. xxxvii

Apparently, what we really need in a war zone

are more Instagram stories and TikTok dances.

The dangers here are more than just

cringeworthy content; this kind of spending
opens the door to disinformation,
propaganda, and international PR disasters.
And don’t even get me started on the
potential to escalate tensions with other
nations. After all, nothing says
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 2022 was different, but only because the NEA
Cirque du Taxpayer added another zero to its check this time. Fern
Street Community Arts, Inc. received $150,000 to
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) fund the circus performers who weren't
spent $365,000 to promote circuses in city performing due to the pandemic lockdowns. xlvi
parks Then to keep the clowns from crying, the NEA
sent another $20,000. xlvii

Source: CBS 8 News

Source: Gary Payne 2023 was another great year for these circus
artists. The NEA granted them $35,000 to
The federal government’s funding of a circus is a continue their city performances. xlviii
sideshow. Over the past several years, the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) granted The most recent NEA act was a $30,000 grant
Fern Street Community Arts, Inc. $365,000 for for “free” circus art performances in 2024. xlix
circus performances. xli
As the late and great David Boaz argued,
It started in 2018 with a $20,000 grant for an “Government funding of anything means
after-school program in circus arts. ii In 2019, a government control. As we should not want
$20,000 grant supported the creation and tour of an established church, so we should not want
circus arts across city parks. xlii established art." .

Then, in 2020, there were two grants. The first

was $25,000 for a circus tour across city parks.
The second was a different story. xliii

During the pandemic, the government notoriously

shut down parks. Because what's more
dangerous than being outside in the fresh air? To
make up for it, the NEA granted these park
performers an additional $50,000 payday. xliv

In 2021, the NEA allocated $15,000 to fund

pandemic relief efforts for the group, offsetting
the economic destruction from government-
imposed restrictions and job losses. xlv

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 That means we’re spending millions of taxpayer
Girls Just Wanna Have dollars to teach Brazilian girls how to be the most
woke climate warriors they can be.
Funds
No one disputes the importance of empowering
The Department of State (DOS) spent $3
young women, and no matter where you fall in
Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in
the climate change debate, one has to question
Brazil
the logic of sending millions overseas for a
program that, at its core, appears to be more
about political posturing than tangible results,
especially when 17 of the 23 Climate Voices to
follow in 2023 happen to be women.iv Last
time I checked, birds, trees and oceans don’t
really care who’s leading the charge to save
them, and neither should we.

Apparently, it wasn’t enough for the Biden

Administration to create a “climate corps” in
United States. liv But let’s not forget the irony
here: while the State Department was busy
Source: Paloma Costa. funding ideological crusades in Brazil, they seem
to have forgotten that their primary responsibility
is to the American people. You know, the folks
While American households need to spend an
who are footing the bill. It’s as if they’re playing a
additional $1,095 each month or $13,138 per
game of “How far can we stretch the taxpayers’
year to maintain the same consumption
patience?” And unfortunately for us, they’re
basket they had in January 2021, li the State
winning.
Department decided to do what it does best:
spend your money on something you never
What’s next? A taxpayer-funded campaign to
asked for and probably never will.
ensure that squirrels in Central Park have
equitable access to acorns? Or maybe a federal
This time, they’ve outdone themselves by
grant to teach raccoons about recycling in a
sending $3 million of your hard-earned tax gender-neutral environment?
dollars to a Netherlands-based organization. lii
It’s time to stop this kind of wasteful spending
Apparently, the climate can’t be saved without and get back to basics: taking care of the
first dividing it up into gender-based silos. American people first.
Because, as we all know, carbon emissions and
rising sea levels are deeply concerned with
inclusivity.

Let’s dig a little deeper into this boondoggle, shall

we? What exactly is “girl-centered climate
action,” and why does it warrant $3 million of
American taxpayer money?

According to the grant details, the program is

designed to empower young women to
become climate leaders by integrating equity
and inclusivity into environmental activism. liii
16
 Here comes the Imperial March for Act 1 because the
A Department of State Department of State has struck again, spending
$20,000 lvi to promote a movie franchise that
Production Featuring Your earned $1,074,144,248 worldwide. lvii And while
Hard-Earned Money George Lucas isn't making the newer films, he's still
laughing all the way to the bank while American
The Department of State (DOS) paid the taxpayers foot the bill for a Star Wars premiere in
Royal Film Commission $873,584 for movies Jordan.
in Jordan
It’s the movie premiere you never knew you
funded. lviii
Grab your popcorn and settle in for a government
production you never asked for. It’s got it all: Act 2 is a riveting saga of filmmaking
action, drama, and mind-boggling capacity-building workshops with the price
expenditures. Jordanians get the THRILLS, the tag of $65,149.55. lix In this chapter, American
Americans get the BILLS in this cinematic taxpayers equip Jordanian filmmakers with the
masterpiece! skills to enter the film and TV industry.

Nothing quite strengthens international

alliances like helping a few Jordanian
filmmakers achieve their cinematic dreams.

For just $50,000, Act 3 takes us to the

American Film Days Project, lx where the DOS
aims to dazzle Jordanian audiences with a
showcase of high-art films. Hollywood and the
Source: https://www.facebook.com/filmjo entire film industry should thrive based on merit
and private funding like any other sector of our
For the pre-production of this feature, Americans
economy. Disney doesn’t need public subsidies.
were forced to ensure the future of Jordanian
cinema is lit—literally. For a mere $4,699.56,
you've funded a five-day workshop on
handling a boom mic and getting those
shadows just right. lv Nothing screams "foreign
policy," like ensuring that Jordanian filmmakers
can properly adjust their lighting setups.

Source: https://www.nywift.org/nywift-partners-with-the-royal-film-
Source: www.broadcastprome.com/news/royal-film-commission-screens- commission-jordan-on-training-and-mentorship-initiative/
star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-in-jordan

17
Act 4 delves into a $298,160 two-year project to
connect established American women filmmakers
from New York Women in Film
and Television (NYWIFT) to filmmakers in
Jordan and advise them as they develop and
produce new documentaries and web series. lxi

Who needs to address the rising cost of groceries

when the federal government can drop nearly 300
grand to produce niche content in a foreign
country that will be viewed by...well, who knows?
The final act is America’s real box office bomb—
$435,575 of your tax dollars spent to “increase the
appeal of Jordan’s film industry.” lxii

That brings the budget to about $873,584 for

projects that have about as much impact on
U.S. national interests as a straight-to-DVD
sequel. lxiii The critics and the taxpayers have
spoken: it’s time to roll the credits on these
unnecessary expenses.

18
 tax dollars.
Goalposts & Grandstanding

The Department of State (DOS) spent

$345,434 on football engagement to
counter terrorism

Everyone enjoys football – known as soccer here

in the U.S. It’s frequently cited as the most
popular sport across the world, as well as the
most widely played.
Source: https://www.footballforpeace.org.uk/our-campaigns/football-
While kids and adults all around the world saves-lives/

play the game, apparently thanks to the U.S.

State Department, more in Albania will be While Football for Peace might be a great
able to partake in it. organization for private funds and volunteer
work, the U.S. government doesn’t have
In 2022, the U.S. Department of State spent money for their charity, we already struggle
$98,765 on a grant to “counter recruitment to fix our own bridges and roads. And, no
and build resilience against terrorism and matter how the State Department spins this,
violent extremism for at-risk communities in football likely won’t stop terrorism.
Albania primarily using sport (football) as a
means of engagement.” lxiv This grant went to the
Football for Peace Foundation, which is based
out of London, England. lxv

Not only did the U.S. government spend nearly

$100k on football, or according to the recipient’s
website, “advancing sports diplomacy initiatives,”
lxvi in another country, but the State Department

also apparently believed funding this initiative

would help stop violent extremism.
Then in 2024, the DOS allotted $246,699 to the
UK Football for Peace Foundation to promote
peaceful football in Serbia and the Maldives.
lxvii

Who knew all it took to stop terrorism was football

and a well-placed hashtag like
#FootballSavesLives.

Furthermore, as you dig into Football for Peace,

you’ll find that Prince William, the Duke of
Cambridge, is involved in the organization. lxviii
Certainly, the British Royal Family has enough
money to fund this initiative without our American

19
 collapse for over a decade. lxxii Even when the
When Bailouts Go Bust world was clamoring for ventilators and shipping
medical supplies nationwide, Yellow couldn't
The United States Department of the Treasury manage to stay in the black.
(USDT) granted a failed trucking company a
$700 million pandemic-era loan Back in the early 2000s, Yellow embarked on an
acquisition spree, swallowing up competitors like
Roadway and transforming into a behemoth.
However, the 2008 financial crisis arrived like an
uninvited guest and punctured their dreams. The
drama with the Teamsters Union didn't help,
and customers started fleeing like rats from a
sinking ship.

On August 6th, they filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy, marking the biggest implosion in U.S.
trucking history. lxxiii And guess what? If Yellow
defaults on that loan, taxpayers—yes, you—
will be left holding a $700 million bag of IOUs.
Source: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Imagine you're flailing in the ocean, gasping for So, next time you think about how your hard-
air. When you're about to give up, someone earned tax dollars are being spent, remember
tosses you a life preserver—except instead of this: our government gave a $700 million high-
keeping you afloat, you still end up sinking. That is five to a company that's been swirling the drain
the story of Yellow (formerly YRC Worldwide Inc.). for years.

It's akin to entrusting your life savings to Meanwhile, if this had been a private company's
someone with a severe gambling problem decision, their executives would've been tossed
and a history of colossal losses. You wouldn't, out. But in Washington? Sadly, that’s just
would you? But fear not; the government is here to business as usual, my friends.
save the day. After all, they are renowned for their
prudent handling of taxpayer funds, aren't they?

Under the CARES Act's 4003 Loan Program,

Uncle Sam went on a spending spree,
handing out cash like Monopoly money. lxix One
lucky recipient was Yellow, a trucking company
that's been stuck in reverse since 2008. lxx

To the tune of $700 million in taxpayer money,

Yellow was given a shot at redemption. lxxi Spoiler
alert: it didn't go well.

The Department of the Treasury defended

this move by pointing out that Yellow was
vital for transporting supplies for the
Department of Defense. Nothing says
"secure the homeland" quite like betting on a
company that's been teetering on the brink of
20
 hard to believe!
Flocking Together! DEI
This is a classic example of how the federal
Takes Flight government’s obsession with identity politics
leads to ridiculous outcomes.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent
$288,563 to Ensure Bird Watching Groups
Instead of letting people enjoy their hobbies as
Have Safe Spaces aka “Affinity Groups”
they see fit, Washington has decided it needs to
step in and organize them according to some
arbitrary standard of diversity. It’s a solution in
search of a problem, and it’s costing taxpayers
nearly $300,000.

At a time when our country is facing real

issues—like out-of-control spending, a
national debt spiraling out of control and
accruing $1 Trillion every five months, lxxvi and
a humanitarian crisis at our border to name a
few lxxvii — they’re busy micromanaging the hobbies
Source: Emma Lee/WHYY. of everyday Americans, and charging us for the
privilege.
In yet another shining example of wasteful
government spending, the National Science
Foundation has decided that the world of bird
watching needs a dose of diversity, equity, and
inclusion. To that end, they’ve approved a grant
of $288,563 to create “affinity groups” within
ornithological societies—basically, bird-
watching clubs— based on identity
characteristics. lxxiv

Nearly $300,000 of your tax dollars are being

used to sort bird watchers into groups based
on who they are or how they identify
themselves, rather than what they love—
watching birds. lxxv It seems that even the
peaceful pastime of observing our feathered
friends isn’t safe from the DEI craze that has
taken over our country.

The goal, they say, is to ensure that bird-

watching communities are more
“inclusive”. But do we really need to spend
nearly a quarter of a million dollars to tell
people how to organize their bird-watching
hobbies? Do bird watchers really need the
help of the government to form groups
based on identity? Are birds somehow
more enjoyable to watch when done so in
identity-based groups? Somehow, that’s
21
 You might want to hold onto your wallet, because
Interest-ingly Wasteful it gets even more ridiculous. The Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) has looked into its
Americans are paying $892 billion in fiscal crystal ball, and what it sees is enough to
year 2024 on the interest on Uncle Sam’s make even the most optimistic among us
Credit Card
break out in a cold sweat. In fiscal year 2024,
we’re on track to pay $892 billion in interest
alone. That’s nearly a trillion dollars just to
tread water.

But wait, it gets worse. By 2025, we’ll hit the

trillion-dollar mark for interest payments. And
if we keep on this path, by 2034, we’ll be
forking over $1.7 trillion a year just to cover
the interest on our debt. In total, over the next
decade, we’re projected to spend $12.9 trillion
just on interest payments, lxxxii that won’t be
going toward tangible priorities. It won’t be paying
down the debt. It’s just interest – the cost of
Source: Family Guy Wiki Congress’s inability to live within its means.

Do you know what really grinds my gears lxxviii This isn’t just some theoretical problem for future
and is one of the most wallet-draining aspects of generations to deal with. No, this is a problem
federal spending? The astronomical sums of that’s affecting us right here, right now. That’s
money we are wasting just to be able to cover the $12.9 trillion we will spend on interest over the
interest on our national debt. next decade instead of things that actually
matter. It’s $12.9 trillion that could have gone
Let’s start with the facts —as John Adams once to improving our healthcare system or
said, “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever lowering taxes for hardworking Americans.
may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the
dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the Instead, that money goes straight into the
state of facts and evidence.” lxxix As of the end pockets of our creditors—many of whom aren’t
of fiscal year 2023, our net federal debt hit a exactly our best friends on the global stage.
staggering $23.7 trillion with a “T”. lxxx
If we don’t get serious about lowering our debt, we’re
And what did that mean for hard working going to spend the next few decades working to pay
taxpayers? It meant Americans forked over off the interest on money we’ve already spent. It’s like
$658 billion—or about 10 % of the entire federal signing up for a gym membership you never use
budget—just to cover the interest on that but keep paying for, year after year – except in this
debt.lxxxi case, the gym is the size of a small country, and the
bill is bankrupting your kids and grandkids.
That’s 10% of the entire federal budget, gone—
not to build bridges, not to fund education, not It’s time to cut the waste, stop the reckless
to improve healthcare, but just to keep the
spending, and lower the debt.
creditors from knocking on your door. Imagine
spending 10% of your income every year just to
cover the interest on your credit card debt. Now
imagine that on a national scale.
22
 situation in Ethiopia, but ended this year. lxxxvii
Hashtag to Handouts in
Ethiopia And the results? Let’s just say you’ve
probably never seen the hashtag unless you
The Department of State (DOS) spent live deep in the most obscure corners of the
$500,000 to expand the U.S. Embassy in internet. Even when researching this waste item,
Ethiopia’s #USInvestsInEthiopians social my team could find very little showing the $500k
media campaign to a larger national public was well spent (see the uninspired and poorly
designed graphic below).
relations campaign

The role of the Department of State is to protect

U.S. interests abroad and implement foreign
policy initiatives, not serve as a de facto public
relations firm for foreign investments. lxxxiii

So why did the DOS attempt to launch a full-

blown public relations extravaganza with the Source: https://et.usembassy.gov/slide/joint-
hashtag #USInvestsInEthiopians? statement/usinvestsinethiopians/

In 2019, the DOS spent $500,000 of your tax We can all agree your tax dollars should not
dollars to expand the U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa be spent on a public relations campaign in
in Ethiopia’s #USInvestsInEthiopians social Ethiopia.
media campaign to a larger national public
relations campaign. lxxxiv

The objective of the project notes that it

would, “support the achievement of U.S.
foreign policy goals and objectives, advance
national interests, and enhance national
security by informing and influencing foreign
publics and by expanding and strengthening
the relationship between the people and
government of the United States and citizens
of the rest of the world.” lxxxv It’s quite doubtful
that a hashtag is enhancing national security.

The grant was given to the College of

Humanities, Language Studies, Journalism and
Communications at Addis Ababa University in
Ethiopia. lxxxvi So, not only did the State
Department fund this absurd campaign, but
they outsourced the work to a foreign
university.

The campaign’s progress was frequently delayed

due to COVID-19 and the unstable political
23
 England. Each episode promises to take us on
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, There a historical rollercoaster through the spells,
superstitions, and “magico-religious”
Goes Your Tax Dollars Too! movements of America’s history.
The federal government spent $7,026,689 on
More magical examples of waste to note:
various magical projects
The Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) awarded $250,000 to the American
Behold, dear taxpayer, your hard-earned money Museum of the Moving Image to update its
is disappearing faster than you can say: “three- exhibition on “magic lantern shows and
season podcast series exploring how magical nickelodeons.” xc
beliefs and practices have evolved in the United
States from the early 1600s to the present!” lxxxviii The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded
$94,006 to study The Magic School Bus. xci
Thanks to the visionary minds at the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in This last trick we’ll reveal is a mind-boggling
cooperation with the University of North Carolina
$6,293,820 from the Department of Defense
at Charlotte, we can revel in the mystifying
podcast, “Magic in the United States.” (DOD) on a Magic City Discovery Center. xcii

For the astonishing price of $388,863, you can We should limit the federal government’s
now enjoy the six-episode-per-season deep dive involvement in cultural and educational
into magic. lxxxix Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of affairs overall. Cutting government-funded
magic that will fix our roads or lower our taxes— magically inspired projects is a great place to
just the usual bureaucrats making your money start. After all, if you can’t find private funding for
disappear with a wave of their hands. your magical project—poof!—it probably doesn’t need
to exist.

Source: magicintheunitedstates.com

When it comes to solving 21st-century

problems, there’s nothing more relevant
than witches, shamans, and some guy
waving a wand somewhere in colonial New
24
 Recent revelations from a top Biden
Who Needs Border Security Administration official revealed that around
400,000 unaccompanied children have been
Anyways? released into the U.S. to live with a vetted
sponsor, however, the Biden Administration lost
The Department of State (DOS) spent $2.1
track of 85,000 children as of February of 2023. xcvii
million for Paraguayan Border Security

It’s as if Washington has lost its map and can’t

In the latest chapter of government spending quite remember which border they need to
gone wrong, we’ve handed over $2.1 million to protect. Or maybe they just figured, “If we can’t fix
provide enhanced border security, but not for our border, let’s see if we can manage someone
the U.S. where record-high arrests and a else’s.” It’s like watching your house catch fire,
humanitarian crisis are unfolding. Instead, we and instead of calling the firefighters and doing
sent taxpayer funds abroad to help Paraguay everything to stop the blaze, you decide to head
secure their border. xciii over to your neighbor’s yard to mow their lawn and
water their plants. The logic is impeccable!

This, folks, is government idiocy at its finest—

where the problems at home are so overwhelming
that the best apparent solution is to jet off to
Paraguay to take a vacation and fix someone
else’s problems instead.

Source: John Moore/NBC News.

While our own border tallied an all-time high of

almost 250,000 encounters with
undocumented immigrants on the U.S. –
Mexican Border in December of 2023, xciv the
powers that be decided it was the perfect time to
focus on securing a border thousands of miles
away in Paraguay. Nothing says “America First”
like securing someone else’s border when our
own is in complete chaos! This figure alone
represents a 31% increase from November of
2023 and a 13% rise over December of 2022,
which had already set the previous all-time
high.
xcv

These numbers paint a picture of a border in

crisis, with border patrol agents stretched to their
limits and communities having to grapple with the
influx of undocumented immigrants. There have
been over 10 million encounters with illegal
immigrants since President Biden took office. xcvi
25
 The High Price of High Line
Art
Since 2015 the National Endowment for the
Arts (NEA) has awarded $385,000 for art
displays on the High Line

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a 16-foot-tall

Source: The High Line, The Musical Brain
pigeon sculpture funded by your taxpayer dollars!
Exhibit C is a 16-foot-tall pigeon sculpture that will
The famous High Line in New York, originally soon grace the streets of New York. That’s right, a
built for pedestrian safety, has become home to $40,000 grant from the NEA this year has allowed this
an array of art displays. And while they do paint a commission to take flight! c
picture, it’s not a pretty one.

Since 2015, the National Endowment for

the Arts has spent $385,000 on art for New
York’s High Line. xcviii

Let’s take a stroll through some of our

government’s art museum of waste.

Exhibit A is entitled the Brick House. The first

commission for the Plinth, this bronze woman
morphed with a clay house was put on display in Source: The High Line, Dinosaur
2019. What a sight that is!
These are just some of the pieces created with your
tax dollars. But take heart, while Americans are
struggling to make ends meet, we have a giant pigeon
to serve as a terrifying distraction from the real
problems our country is facing.

Source: The High Line, Brick House

Let’s move to Exhibit B: the Musical Brain Series,

which was awarded $55,000.xcix That’s a
breathtaking use of taxpayer funds for sure!

26
 is feminism.
Money to Manure
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
spending $20 million on the Fertilize Right
initiative to advance fertilizer use in Pakistan,
Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil

Ironically, while American farmers are struggling

Source: PPD Hosts Fertilize Right Event
to turn a profit—burdened by inflation and high
production costs, the USDA reports that in
Vietnam’s Fertilize Right initiative is a $4.4
countries like the United States, more than
million bureaucratic partnership that aims to
50% of fertilizer is lost to waste. ci
curb greenhouse gas emissions and boost the
incomes of farmers...in Vietnam. cv
Instead of addressing this domestic issue, the
USDA has decided to send $20 million overseas
Next, we find that Colombia’s Fertilize Right
to teach others how to fertilize properly. cii The
initiative is receiving $4 million for a USDA
federal government can’t seem to solve the
team to work with the Center for Tropical
problem at home, yet they’re eager to advise
Agriculture (CIAT) to fine-tune fertilizer. But with
others on how to fix it.
all of the buzzwords, endless meetings, and
field visits (aka tropical vacations), cvi this feels
The initiative begins with four countries—
more like bureaucratic busywork. cvii
Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil —
each receiving funds for projects that vary in Finally, Fertilize Right Brazil is a $1.2 million cviii
design and goals.
initiative to bring artificial intelligence (AI), big
data, and bio-stimulants into one big taxpayer
funded science fair.

Altogether, the Fertilize Right initiative accounts

for $20 million in taxpayer funding. While the
USDA has yet to allocate some of those hard-earned
dollars, this initiative is already a costly exercise in
Source: U.S. Mission Pakistan misplaced priorities.

The Fertilize Right initiative in Pakistan is a $4.5 Perhaps it’s time to focus on more pressing
million “Green Alliance” program which will issues with American agriculture before we send
likely yield more reports than results. ciii The millions of dollars we don’t have overseas.
USDA is trying to solve the problems of Pakistani
farmers with stakeholder groups and gender
research. civ When it comes to advancing fertilizer,
the USDA seems to think the missing ingredient

27
 killed as early as two days after being infected.
Fauci Funded Feline COVID Some weren’t even infected with COVID-19
Experiments since they were the “control” group, yet they
were still killed. Throughout the experiment, the
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious cats were completely isolated in cages. cxiii
Diseases (NIAID) and U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) spent $2.24 million on
COVID experiments

Once again, Dr. Anthony Fauci and his NIAID are

experimenting on animals in the name of science.
We all remember Beaglegate where Dr. Fauci
gave $375k to a Tunisian dog lab that drugged
and locked beagles’ heads in mesh cages with
biting flies to be eaten alive – all for essential
Source: White Coat Waste Project
scientific study, of course. cix And who could
forget Fauci’s $1.68 million study that injected The NIAID funding is supposed to continue
and force-fed experimental drugs to beagle through 2025, and the USDA project is slated
puppies, cut their vocal cords out so they couldn’t to run through May 2026. cxiv
bark in the lab while being abused, and then
eventually killed them? cx Well, this time instead of It’s a mystery as to why the U.S. government
puppies and dogs, Dr. Fauci has targeted kittens continues to fund these barbaric types of studies,
and cats. especially when the knowledge gained is either
useless to society or could be learned without
Since January 2022, Dr. Fauci’s NIAID and the torturing an animal. Besides that, the U.S.
USDA have given Cornell University $2.24 taxpayer has already doled out far too much
million to study whether felines can contract money on COVID-19. We don’t need to spend
and transmit COVID-19. an additional $2.24 million on COVID cat
experiments.
Through a University of Illinois subgrant, the
NIAID awarded Cornell University $1.59 million
over the course of the last two years. cxi Cornell
University additionally received a grant
through the USDA for $650k, bringing their
total for this cat-astrophic experiment to $2.24
million. cxii

Not only is this a waste of over a million in

taxpayer dollars, but the experiments have led to
the suffering and death of over thirty cats.

The methodology of the experiment requires

scientists to infect perfectly healthy cats with
COVID-19, watch them suffer through
infection for different lengths of time, and
then kill them in groups of four. Some were
28
 believe that grants like these enhance national
Going Viral for World Peace security and advance American interests around
the globe. However, it’s unclear how teaching
The Department of State (DOS) is spending youth in foreign countries how to go viral on social
$123,066 to teach Kyrgyzstan youth how to media benefits the American taxpayer. After all,
go viral many of these skills can be conveniently learned
online through a plethora of free tutorial videos.
Have you ever stumbled upon a cringeworthy According to the State Department, taxpayers
graphic or social media video? You’ll be thrilled to have given Kyrgyzstan over $2.1 billion since
know that the federal government is coming to the 1992, which includes efforts to improve internet
rescue by generously pouring your hard- earned access. cxix So, these types of free tutorial videos
tax dollars into social media and marketing should be more than accessible to the country’s
training...in Kyrgyzstan. youth.

To make matters worse, Kyrgyzstan has

recently begun taking steps to censor free
speech, suspending independent media
outlets and removing access to the popular
social media app TikTok. cxx Wonder who gave
them that idea…

One thing is for sure: there is absolutely no reason

why the American taxpayer should be footing the
bill to teach the youth in foreign countries how to
Source: Getty Images

go viral on social media, especially countries that

In 2023 and 2024, the State Department decided
seemingly don’t allow their citizens to engage in
it was absolutely vital to spend $123,066 of free speech online.
your hard-earned tax dollars to teach the
youth of Kyrgyzstan how to go viral. cxv This
grand initiative features a one-day “Go Viral”
celebration festival focused on developing the
creative industry and providing a platform for
exchanging ideas, business opportunities, and
cultural innovation. cxvi

Another grant is intended to empower content

creators to increase citizens’ awareness of
environmental issues in Kyrgyzstan by training
content creators and youth filmmakers on
documentary structure and storytelling
techniques. cxvii The largest grant of the program
came in at $80,123 to provide training in graphic
design and social media marketing for
Kyrgyzstan’s youth because nothing screams
“economic opportunity” quite like mastering
Instagram! What a brilliant way to change the
world, one graphic at a time! cxviii

The State Department would like to have you

29
 flashing lights. And if the spinning and lights don’t
Spinning Kittens for Science do the trick, researchers inject copper sulfate
directly into their stomachs to guarantee that the
and Motion Sickness kittens will vomit. cxxii
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent
In an experiment that can only be described as
$1,513,299 on a study of waste and cruelty
medieval, some of these kittens have holes
drilled into their skulls, allowing the researchers
to lock their heads into place during the spinning
and shocking. But these aren’t just ordinary
cats—they’re “zombified” before the real torment
begins. Through a process known as
“decerebration,” the researchers sever or
completely remove parts of the kittens’ brains
while they’re still alive. This leaves the kittens
alive but devoid of any cognitive function, turning
them into unresponsive shells that can be spun,
shocked, and abused without resistance.
Source: White Coat Waste.

If you learned that your money is being used

to electro-shock young kittens, torturing them
for hours on end, and to the point that they
vomit, would you believe it? Since 2019,
$1,513,299 worth of taxpayer money has been
going to these medieval-type experiments.
This is not some distant, dystopian future; it’s
happening right now at the University of Source: White Coat Waste
Pittsburgh, courtesy of a grant from the NIH.
cxxi
Imagine the suffering, the disorientation, the utter
helplessness these animals must feel. And it’s all
In these nightmarish experiments, female kittens being done with your money—more than one
are the preferred victims, selected because they and a half million dollars of it.
are supposedly more “amenable” to the
relentless, inhumane treatment they’re subjected So, what’s the scientific goal here? According to
to. These kittens, often just four to six months the NIH, the purpose of these experiments is
old, are first trained to endure long periods of to study how different species, such as cats
restraint. They’re kept tied down for hours at a and monkeys, respond to motion sickness.
time and for weeks on end. The goal? To force The researchers claim that understanding
them into submission so that they no longer these responses could have implications for
resist the torture that awaits them. human health, potentially aiding in the
treatment of conditions like vertigo or helping
Once sufficiently “trained,” these kittens are us understand the effects of space travel on
strapped to a hydraulic table that tilts and the human body. cxxiii But let’s be honest. Does
spins them in all directions—side to side, up any of this justify the sheer cruelty these
and down, and a full 360 degrees, sometimes animals are subjected to? I’m guessing the
completing an entire rotation in just five American people would say no.
seconds, all in a gruesome effort to induce
severe motion sickness. As if that wasn’t
enough, their eyes are subjected to bright,
30
 at Pitt attached electrodes to cats’ spinal cords and
inserted condom- balloons into their colons and
Cat-Stipated? marbles into their rectums. The objective? To force
these poor animals to defecate the marbles via electric
The Department of Defense (DOD) spent shock. cxxvi
$10,851,439 on Orwellian Cat Experiment
One particularly unfortunate cat had to endure 11
minutes of relentless shocks just to expel four
When George Orwell wrote 1984, he couldn’t marbles. Apparently, nothing says “national
have imagined the bizarre, dystopian reality we defense” quite like torturing cats to poop marbles.
find ourselves in today where tax dollars are
being spent to shock cats into having erections
and defecating marbles. Yes, you read that
correctly.

In a scene that seems more fitting for a horror

movie than for the real world, the DOD, under
the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), funneled $10,851.439 of
taxpayer dollars cxxiv into grotesque and
extremely invasive experiments on cats at the
University of Pittsburgh.

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh sliced

open the backs of male cats to expose their
spinal cords then inserted electrodes which
fired off electric shocks while the incision Source: White Coat Waste
was still open to make cats have an erection.
cxxv

Your hard-earned money, nearly $11 million

of it, was spent on experiments that would be
more at home in a dystopian novel than the
real world. It’s a grim reminder that, when left
unchecked, government spending can drift into
realms that defy common sense.

Source: White Coat Waste

Here’s to hoping that exposing these experiments
But the horror doesn’t end there. These cats were brings fewer horrors and more accountability in the
then subjected to even more electric shocks, future. If we can’t stop the government from
sometimes for up to 10 minutes at a time, before shocking cats into defecating marbles, then what
having their spinal cords severed to paralyze their can we stop?
lower bodies. And just for good measure, the
shocks continued for another 10 minutes. All this,
in the name of “science.”

If you thought that was bad, brace yourself. In

another DARPA-funded experiment, researchers
31
 More Ducking Waste in
Mexico
The Department of the Interior (DOI) spent
$720,479 on wetland conservation projects
for ducks in Mexico

Source: Ducks Unlimited De México

Have you ever looked at how wildly wasteful our
government is and thought, “Hmmm, I’m being That all sounds nice. After all, who wouldn’t want
taken for a ride!” Well, it turns out, the ducks to have a nice place to swim and sleep?
government is also taking you for a swim. Well, not if our country is having taxpayers
foot the $720,479 bill.
While the country is $36 trillion underwater
and Americans are drowning in price If some duck-loving philanthropists want to
increases, the government is doing its best to donate their money to Ducks Unlimited de
continue their foolish financial decisions by Mexico, go right ahead, but the money of hard-
ensuring ducks in Mexico are nice and comfy. working taxpayers should not be going
The U.S. Department of the Interior is sending towards it.
more than half a million dollars to Ducks
Unlimited De Mexico for wetland conservation
projects. cxxvii

The Department of the Interior (DOI) – a

government agency that’s supposed to be
concerned with natural resources and federal
lands within the United States - has thrown a
shocking $18.67 million at this organization
since 2012. cxxviii

At this point, you may be wondering if this waste

item is real. Surely, with all the financial
issues facing our country and with working
Americans struggling to make ends meet,
our tax dollars aren’t going to ducks in Mexico.

Unfortunately, this is very real.

Ducks Unlimited de Mexico is an

organization that has operated for decades.
Its vision is “Wetlands sufficient to fill the
skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and
forever.” cxxix It even holds fishing
tournaments and hosted a sunset cruise
to celebrate its 50th anniversary. cxxx

32
 of throwing unregulated and
Big Bird Goes to Baghdad unmonitored money at every project made a
cesspool of grifters who lined their pockets
The Agency for International Development instead of reconstructing their country. cxxxiv
(USAID) is spending $20 million on “Ahlan
Simsim” a new Sesame Street show in Iraq Youth, who make up over half of Iraq's
population, face high unemployment. Many
educated young Iraqis face a broken
economy with few jobs. This has created a
cycle of poverty, frustration, and a risk of
radicalization.

Having shown how U.S. policies fueled Iraq's

crises, let's now examine the idea that a $20
million Sesame Street show can fix the
damage.

Source: Sesame Workshop Will airing "Ahlan Simsim," a Sesame Street spin-
off, bridge divides cxxxv that have worsened due to
After decades of costly wars in the Middle East, decades of conflict? Writing about "mutual
we hoped to see a sober approach to “assisting” respect" seems nice, but it ignores the
the region. But no, here we are. The Agency for structural and economic barriers that fuel
International Development (USAID) is social divisions. If puppet-powered "inclusion"
spending $20 million in taxpayer money on a funded with our hard-earned money is the
Sesame Street show in Iraq to promote solution, we’ve truly lowered our standards.
“inclusion” and “mutual respect.” cxxxi Because
when tanks and missiles fail, our best backup The decision to spend $13 million on a Sesame
plan is to send in the Muppets. Street show for Iraq is misguided. This project
shows the U.S.'s shallow attempts to fix
Before we explore the absurdity of using federal problems it created in the Middle East at the
tax dollars for puppets to heal the Middle East, expense of U.S. taxpayers. Iraq can recover
we must recognize some of the causes of Iraq only with real economic and social reforms.
and Syria's refugee crisis, youth unemployment, Puppet-driven "inclusion" campaigns won't work.
and deep social trauma. The U.S. involvement
in Iraq and Syria didn't just "fail to stabilize"
these regions. It actively destabilized them,
fueling conflict and displacement. cxxxii

After the 2003 invasion and years of occupation,

Iraq saw a rise in violence and a collapse of
infrastructure. The rise of ISIS caused new
waves of terror and displacement. In Syria, U.S.
interventions to combat ISIS and others
complicated a brutal civil war. cxxxiii They
displaced millions.

As if war and displacement weren't

enough, Iraq's economy continues to
suffer. Corruption and political instability
are to blame. U.S. interventionist policy
33
 The more than quarter of a million dollars
News We Wish Was Fake shipped to Center Za Odrzivi Razvoj sounds
even more ridiculous when our country is over
The Department of State (DOS) sent $36 trillion in debt. We accumulate $8.5 billion
$253,653 to Bosnia to fight “misinformation” in debt per day – yet our leaders are still
and more shipping money overseas to useless
projects.v Ending our country’s debt crisis
requires drastically curtailing government waste,
throwing money at so-called "disinformation”
efforts in Bosnia shows that your government is
just not serious about tackling our financial
problems.
Even if things in Bosnia were going better than
they are, and even if our country wasn’t trillions in
debt, it’s laughable the same people that
Source: state.gov pushed the Trump-Russia collusion hoax
Over the last several years, we’ve seen the Left think they have something to teach Bosnians
spread disinformation in ways that have harmed about misinformation.
the vulnerable and eroded confidence in our The Left has spread misinformation far and wide,
institutions. To name one example, during the yet they still believe they can teach others to be
Covid pandemic, the Biden-Harris fair and perceptive arbiters of truth. It’s chilling
administration misled the public about the to think what innocent Bosnians might be
origins of the virus and the efficacy of the taught by the Biden-Harris administration
Covid vaccines. cxxxvi under the pretext of “fighting
misinformation.”
Ironically, they then turned around and branded
the truth about these issues as “misinformation!”
We should roll our eyes when this year alone
the Department of State is sending
$66,830 to Bosnia to, “Develop online
resources such as videos, interactive games,
and quizzes to engage young people in
detecting and countering misinformation.” cxxxvii
Worse: we’ve funneled $253,363 to this group
since 2010. cxxxviii
Sending money to fight disinformation in a
country with a GDP per capita almost 90% lower
than the U.S. is laughable given the
circumstances. Bosnia has an unemployment
rate of almost 13.30%, cxxxix and 18% of people
live below the poverty line. cxl Aren’t there more
urgent priorities for the Bosnian people than
“misinformation”?

34
 Abandon Ship: The Navy
Sinks Billions on LCS
Vessels
The U.S. Navy to waste almost $90 billion on
ineffective Navy vessels

There’s a ship sinking – or perhaps a whole

Source: USNI Newsiii
program of ships. Batten down the hatches and
prepare for a wild ride because the wastefulness Conveniently, the ships would be built in two
of this spending bonanza is enough to make different shipyards – one in Alabama and one
anyone seasick. in Wisconsin – spreading out the billions of
dollars that Congress and the Navy must
Back in the early 2000s, the Navy began
have known the LCS program would generate
planning for a new warship that would allow for
for the military-industrial complex. cxliii After the
better operating in shallow waters close to shore
program finally got under sail, the delivered ships
and accomplish assignments needed for the war
proved to be a tremendous waste of taxpayer
in Iraq and Afghanistan – like intercepting small
dollars.
terrorist vessels or locating underwater mines. cxli
The LCS vessels have demonstrated an
The Navy requested proposals from two
astonishing number of failures. From the start,
shipyards to decide between them and get
the ships couldn’t fulfill the missions they were
the best ship for their money. Smooth sailing
designed for. cxliv The ships were undermanned,
so far, right?
causing the crew to get 25% less sleep than the
Unfortunately, this is where the Littoral Combat Navy’s standard. cxlv The ships had cracks in their
Ship (LCS) program becomes a tale of hulls, cxlvi and transmissions that ground
wastefulness that could happen only in themselves apart.
Washington. At first, Congress and the Navy
Maintenance manuals for the ships were written
wanted the shipyards to design, build, and test
in foreign languages, leaving crews unable to
their respective prototypes in order to decide.
make basic repairs. cxlvii Despite being planned
more than two decades prior, the mission
Yet in 2010, when the designs were finally
modules for the ships, the reason they existed,
completed – already over budget and behind
weren’t tested before the ships were built and
schedule – Congress authorized 10 ships for
didn’t even work. cxlviii
both designs, despite neither design’s
prototype having been tested or evaluated to The ships’ classified, encrypted communication
even a minimal standard. cxlii systems repeatedly failed. cxlix A seal on one ship
malfunctioned, letting in seawater and ruining the
engines. cl The ship is so flawed that it

35
probably couldn’t survive a direct hit, and its The failures and flaws of the LCS vessels cost
best hope in combat is “the avoidance of billions to fix, and most of the ships were over
detection,” yet the Department of Defense budget from the start. By FY 2019, more than
didn’t commit to fundamental design changes $28 billion had been spent on the
until after more than 20 ships had been development and construction of 32 Little
ordered. cli And just a year or two after Crappy Ships, and the Navy now says it will
commissioning, one of the ships was literally spend at least $60 billion over the lifecycle of
“disintegrating” due to corrosion. clii the ships on their operation and support. cliv clv

Source: Forbes

This gigantic waste far exceeds the definition

of egregious when our nation is more than
$36 trillion in debt. clvi We are drowning in debt,
Source: AFRxv but the only thing we’re throwing overboard is
fiscal sanity.
The LCS vessels are so bad that several of them
have already been taken out of the active Naval
fleet. One of these Leaking, Cracked Ships
was barely two years old when the Navy
proposed decommissioning it! cliii

36
 niche audience for its creative approach, the question
Dragging Tax Dollars onto remains whether this niche justifies a public investment.
Spending $10k on drag ice skating may feel like a
Thin Ice drop in the bucket, but every dollar counts when
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) our country is facing serious issues and massive
awarded the Bearded Ladies Cabaret a debt.
$10,000 grant to support a cabaret show on
ice skates focused on climate change Supporters will argue it brings climate awareness to the
masses, but detractors will see it as an over-the-top
vanity project funded by federal dollars.

The NEA’s $10,000 grant to Beards on Ice raises

questions about the agency’s priorities. While artistic
expression is vital, this funding decision may leave
taxpayers wondering if the NEA's mission has
skated a little too far off course—on thin ice, no
less.

Source: whyy.org

The Bearded Ladies Cabaret a self-described

“queer cabaret arts organization,” clvii is gearing
up for a climate change-themed ice-skating
performance titled Beards on Ice. This quirky
production features polar bears, drag queens,
and a character dubbed "Nonbinary Parental
Guardian Nature."

What’s the impetus for the show, you ask? The

founding artistic director describes it: “It’s so
impossible, the issue of climate change and
climate anxiety right now — almost as
impossible as drag queens learning how to ice
skate. So if we can get these drag queens to ice
skate, maybe, just maybe, we can solve the
climate crisis.” clviii

The NEA, the federal agency tasked with

supporting “artistic excellence,” apparently
decided this was the pinnacle of cultural
innovation. Their choice to tackle climate
change with a double axel, a dash of drag, and
$10,000 of taxpayer funds is questionable at
best. clix

While the Bearded Ladies Cabaret has found a

37
 This prompted us to ask, “how much did the U.S.
Taxpayers Get Spun government spend on breakdancing in 2023 and
2024?”
The Department of State (DOS) allocated
$32,596.12 for breakdancing Notably, three grants have been awarded. These
grants total $32,596.12 in U.S. taxpayer money
directed towards enhancing Olympic
Australian breakdancer Raygun’s debut at the breakdancing endeavors and Nigerian
2024 Olympics was a spectacle—just not the breakdancing workshops and performances. clxi
kind she intended. Her routine was somewhere
between a pouncing kangaroo and an Allocating U.S. taxpayer dollars to support a
accidental cartwheel which spiraled into what foreign nation's Olympic breakdancing efforts is a
can only be described as "interpretive misallocation of resources, particularly when the
flailing." clx return on investment is questionable. The funds
could arguably have been better utilized to
support domestic athletic programs or other
pressing national needs.

Source: Raygun (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

i Marroni, David. “FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY Preliminary Results Show Federal Buildings Remain Underutilized Due to Longstanding Challenges and Increased Telework.” Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and

Emergency Management, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, July 2023.

ii Paul, Rand. “The Festivus Report 2022.” paul.senate.gov, United States, Office of Senator Rand Paul, 2022
iii Christenson, Josh. “Exclusive | Feds had $3.3B furniture splurge during COVID, bought solar-powered picnic tables, leather recliners.” New York Post, 4 Oct. 2023, nypost.com/2023/10/03/federal-agencies-spent-3-3-billion-on-new-furniture-

while-employees-worked-from-home-during-covid-pandemic.
iv “Businessman allegedly stole nearly $8 million in COVID relief aid to buy a private island in Florida, oil fields in Texas.” CBS News, 13 Nov. 2023, www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-parker-walsh-stole-covid-relief-aid-buy-private-island-florida-
oil-fields-texas.
v North-Central Florida Blimp Company Executive Sentenced To Over Five. 1 Feb. 2023, www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/north-central-florida-blimp-company-executive-sentenced-over-five-years-federal-prison.
vi ---. “COVID fraudster used stolen relief aid to buy private island in Florida | AP News.” AP News, 10 Nov. 2023, apnews.com/arti cle/pandemic-fraud-grift-millions-private-island-a005ecfc3226f4ea501eb952c8ec1a8f.
vii USAspending.gov. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_L23AC00014_1422.

i Lilly, Caitlin. “Las Vegas City Council accepts $12M grant for pickleball complex at northwest valley park.” https://www.fox5vegas.com, 5 Apr. 2023, www.fox5vegas.com/2023/04/05/las-vegas-accepts- 12m-grant-pickleball-complex-

northwest-valley-park.

ix ---. “City council moves forward with new pickleball complex, homeowners consider litigation.” KSNV, 3 Aug. 2023, news3lv.com/news/local/city-council-moves-forward-with-new-pickleball-complex-homeowners-consider-litigation.
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Committee on Oversight and Accountability, 3 Oct. 2023, oversight.house.gov/release/comer-probes-state-departments-use-of-taxpayer-dollars-to-fund-censorship-campaigns%EF%BF%BC.
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President, and the Federal Government, 17 Jan. 2024, www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2749593/disinformation-inc-meet-the-groups-hauling-in-cash-to-secretly-blacklist-conservative-news.
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38
 i ---. "Food Advertisement and Dietary Choices in Adolescents: An Overview of Recent Studies." Children, vol. 10, no. 3, Feb. 2023, p. 442. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030442.

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Grenadines.” U.S. Embassy to Barbados, Antigua And Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts And Nevis, Saint Lucia, And Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, 23 Nov. 2022, bb.usembassy.gov/the-united-states-donates-funds-to-preserve-the-
historic-bath-hotel-in-nevis/#%3A~%3Atext%3DNovember%2023%2C%202022-%2CThe%20United%20States%20Donates%20Funds%20to%20Preserve%20the%20Historic%20Bath%2Cthe%20Bath%20Hotel%20in%20Nevis.
xvi Nevis Hot Springs and the Bath Hotel: A Legacy Revived, https://booknevis.com/nevis-hot-springs-and- the-bath-hotel-a-legacy-revived/

xvii Nevis bath house and stream to get facelift, https://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/48746

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xxvi The Impact of COVID-19 on Drug Use—and How It Contributes to Overdose Risk. 25 Apr. 2022, www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/april/covid-19-drug-use.html.. 2024, www.addictionhelp.com/cocaine/statistics.
xxvii Electric vehicles have almost 80% more problems than gas-powered ones, Consumer Reports says. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/electric-vehicles-consumer-reports-reliability-report/
xxviii Americans still prefer gas vehicles over hybrid or EVs, study shows. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/americans-still-prefer-gas-vehicles-over-hybrid-or-evs-study-shows-2024-05-30/
xxix Automakers lose about $6000 on every EV they sell. https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/every-ev-leads-6000-losses-automakers-bcg-says
xxx Ford just reported a massive loss on every electric vehicle it sold. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/business/ford-earnings-ev-losses/index.html
xxxi Lucid Motors Reports Staggering $227,000 Loss Per Car. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lucid-motors-reports-staggering-227-
150000663.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHSWUTcP9USUx9rajyGa7RoBh509h AokNbf0D8Bkekcj4qfcs5hEanm5ywpf_6Tzwdxk5cdIndA-
aiWDGBFIis4kaM4KwG9KV2T8QNSPts3u94-To0mDPMHdvTgQxbVwl8NyWinm6e1M5K1T6HbYj_cvSt17G7EkMNqaroWmcj0X
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xxxvi “Ukraine Aid is Important, But So is Oversight of This Funding and Assistance.” U.S. GAO, 16 Oct. 2024, www.gao.gov/blog/ukra ine-aid-important-so-oversight-funding-and-assistance.
xxxvii Award Profile, Award ID:19AQMM23F1227, KYIV PUBLIC AFFAIRS - INFLUENCER STAFF https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_19AQMM23F1227_1900_19AQMM23D0059_1900
xxxviii Disinformation and the Role of Influencers in Times of Conflict. https://www.aspeninstitute.de/wp- content/uploads/Disinformation-and-the-Role-of-Social-Media-Influencers-in-Times-of-Crises-Conflicts- and-Wars-Recommendations-
on-Countering-Disinformation-2.pdfourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

xxxix Award Profile, Award ID: 19BR9323P1017, SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY – INFLUENCERS EVENT https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_19BR9323P1017_1900_-NONE-_-NONE-
xl Award Profile, Award ID: 19T14023P1062, USAID SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS CAMPAIGN https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_19T14023P1062_1900_-NONE-_-NONE-
xli --. www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=3f852c1da2075666c7c75acb0a70bed0.
xlii --- www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1853876-54-19_5920.
xliii www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1862041-54-20_5920.
xliv www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1879429-95-20_5920.
xlv www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1884132-54-21_5920.
xlvi Summerville, Krista. “ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV.” ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV, 28 Jan. 2022, www.10news.com/lifestyle/exploring-san-diego/fern-street-circus-juggling-to-bounce-back-from- pandemic-receives-150-000-grant.
xlvii www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1894643-54-22_5920.
xlviii https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1910783-54-23_5920.
xlix www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1927558-54-24_5920.
l David Boaz, "The Separation of Art and State: Who is going to make decisions?" Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol. LXI, No. 17 (June 15, 1995).
li Joint Economic Committee, Inflation Tracker. https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/state-inflation-tracker
lii Award Profile, Profile ID: SAQMIP23CA0383, FOSTER AND ELEVATE A DIVERSE MOVEMENT OF GIRL-
CENTERED CLIMATE ACTION. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SAQMIP23CA0383_1900/
liii https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SAQMIP23CA0383_1900/

liv Top 23 Climate Voices to Follow in 2023, https://cleanchoiceenergy.com/news/climate-voices-to-follow-

lv www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SJO10019CA0083_1900.
lvi www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SJO10020GR0011_1900.
lvii “Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker - Box Office Mojo.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2527338.
lviii Reporter, Staff, and Staff Reporter. “Royal Film Commission Screens “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in Jordan.” BroadcastPro ME, 20 Dec. 2019, www.broadcastprome.com/news/royal-film commission-
screens-star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-in-jordan.
lix ---. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SJO10020CA0035_1900.
lx --. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SJO10022CA0028_1900.
lxi ---. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SJO10022CA0027_1900.
lxii ---. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SJO10024CA0519_1900.
lxiii ---. www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=30fc337dd096290cdde19dbcde1cda87.
lxiv USAspending.gov. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SAQMIP22GR0334_190
lxv USAspending.gov. www.usaspending.gov/recipient/d1fda481- 2175-c3be-c954-2806d5984314-R/latest
lxvi Who We Are – Football For Peace. web.archive.org/web/20240531042702/https://www.footballforpeace.org.uk/who-we-are.

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lxvii ---. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SAQMIP24GR5172_1900

lxviii Football Saves Lives – Football For Peace. web.archive.org/web/20240531042701/https://www.footballforpeace.org.uk/our-campaigns/football-saves-lives.

lxix “4003 Loan Program.” U.S. Department of The Treasury, 7 Aug. 2024, home.treasury.gov/policy- issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-industry/loans-to-air-carriers-eligible-businesses-and-national-security-businesses.
lxx Gordon, Benjamin. “Yellow: End of an Era, and Lessons Learned - Supply Chain Management Center.” Supply Chain Management Center, 4 Oct. 2023, warrington.ufl.edu/supply-chain-management-center/2023/09/05/yellow-end-of-an-era-
and-lessons-learned.
lxxi “Treasury to Provide Loan to YRC Worldwide.” U.S. Department of The Treasury, 7 Aug. 2024, home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1049
lxxii The White House. “National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan | The White House.” The White House, 3 Mar. 2022, www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan.
lxxiii “Yellow Corporation Files Voluntary Chapter 11 Petitions | Yellow Corporation.” Yellow Corporation, 2023, investors.myyellow.com/news-releases/news-release-details/yellow-corporation-files-voluntary-chapter-11-petitions.
lxxiv Award Profile, Profile ID: 2233343, CREATION OF AFFINITY GROUPS TO FACILITATE DIVERSE & INCLUSIVE
ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_2233343_4900/

lxxv Ornithological members work to co-create affinity groups (Flocks) to enhance inclusiveness in societies and the field
https://americanornithology.org/ornithological-members-work-to-co-create-affinity-groups-flocks/
lxxvi Our national debt has topped $34 trillion. Does anyone actually have the guts to fix it? https://www.usatoday.com/story/opini on/columnist/2024/01/10/national-debt-rising-biden-congress- social-security-medicare-
spending/72124569007/
lxxvii The unprecedented situation at the US-Mexico border – visualized. https://www.theguardian.com/us- news/2024/feb/07/mexico-border-explained-chart-immigration
lxxviii What really grinds my gears. https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/What_Really_Grinds_My_Gears
lxxix John Adams, Quotes, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/32621-facts-are-stubborn-things-and- whatever-may-be-our-wishes
lxxx Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20program%20spending,10%20percent%20of%20the%20budget
lxxxi Ibid
lxxxii An update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60039#:~:text=The%20Budget%20Outlook,-
Deficits&text=In%20CBO's%20projections%2C%20the%20federal,to%20%242.8%20trillion%20by%202034
lxxxiii “About - United States Department of State.” United States Department of State, 31 July 2024, www.state.gov/about.
lxxxiv USAspending.gov.www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SET10019CA0139_1900.
lxxxv Ibid
lxxxvi Ibid
lxxxvii Ibid

lxxxviii GRANT to UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE, THE | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_TR29072823_4340.

lxxxix “Magic in the United States.” Magic in the United States, www.magicintheunitedstates.com.
xc GRANT to AMERICAN MUSEUM OF MOVING IMAGE | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_MA-253284-OMS-23_5950.
xci GRANT to RADFORD UNIVERSITY | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_2341861_4900.
xcii GRANT to CITY OF MINOT | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_HQ00052010086_97F6.
xciii Award Profile, Profile ID: SAQMIP22GR0213, TO PROVIDE PARAGUAY WITH ENHANCED BORDER SECURITY AND MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SAQMIP22GR0213_1900/
xciv Migrant Encounters at the U.S. – Mexico border hit a record high at the end of 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/15/migrant-encounters-at-the-us-mexico-border-hit- a-record-high-at-the-end-of-2023/
xcv Illegal border crossings from Mexico reach highest on record in December before January lull. https://apnews.com/article/immi gration-border-crossings-mexico-biden-18ac91ef502e0c5433f74de6cc629b32
xcvi Biden official reveals unaccompanied migrant juveniles aren’t getting proper background checks in bombshell admission. https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/biden-official-reveals- unaccompanied-migrant-juveniles-arent-
getting-
xcvii Gilder, Lucy. How many migrants have crossed the US border illegally? 29 Sept. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jp4xqx2z3o.
xcviii Federal Awards | Advanced Search | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=51c20b9205de05ef310002056b253bb1.
xcix GRANT to FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE, INC | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1858576-41-20_5920.
c GRANT to FRIENDS OF THE HIGH LINE, INC | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1906633-41-23_5920.
ci https://fas.usda.gov/newsroom/global-fertilizer-challenge
cii Global Fertilizer Challenge Raises $135 million for Fertilizer Efficiency and Soil Health Measures to Combat Food Insecurity - United States Department of State.” United States Department of State, 12 Nov. 2022, www.state.gov/global-

fertilizer-challenge-raises-135-million-for-fertilizer-efficiency-and-soil-health- measures-to-combat-food-insecurity.
ciii Pakistan, U. S. Mission. “United States Partners with Pakistan to Help Farmers Improve Fertilizer Use -
U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Pakistan.” U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Pakistan, 31 Oct. 2023, pk.usembassy.gov/united -states-partners-with-pakistan-to-help-farmers-improve-fertilizer-use.
civ ---. www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/international/topic/fertilizing-smarter-future-introducing-fertilize-right.
cv USDA, MARD, and IRRI launch Fertilize Right Project to optimize fertilizer use of Vietnamese farmers. news.irri.org/2024/05/u sda-mard-and-irri-launch-
fertilize.html#:~:text=17%20April%202024%2C%20HANOI%2C%20Vietnam,and%20reduce%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions.
cvi www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/348631
cvii Fertilizing Smarter for the Future: Introducing Fertilize Right | USDA Climate Hubs.
www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/international/topic/fertilizing-smarter-future-introducing-fertilize-
right#:~:text=The%20Fertilize%20Right%20Colombia%20program,input%20application%20for%20banana
%20crops.
cviii Jimenezla. “U.S.-Brazil agricultural initiatives battle evolving challenges.” State Magazine, 28 Mar. 2024,
statemag.state.gov/2024/04/0424itn03/#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20State%27s%20Offi%20%20ce,(USDA)%20Fertilize%20Right%20Initiative.
cix Nieves, Amanda, and Amanda Nieves. “PHOTOS: Fauci Funded $375K Beagle Torture Overseas, Too.” White Coat Waste Project, 7 Jul y 2022, blog.whitecoatwaste.org/2021/08/31/photos-fauci-funded-beagle-torture- overseas-too.
cx Nieves, Amanda, and Amanda Nieves. “WCW Investigation: Fauci Wasted $1M+ to Poison Beagle Puppies, Cut Out Vocal Cords.” Whit e Coat Waste Project, 26 Aug. 2022, blog.whitecoatwaste.org/2021/10/05/wcw-investigation-fauci-wasted-
1m-to- de-bark-poison-beagle-puppies.

cxi https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_R01AI166791_7529
cxii https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_20237043239463_12H3
cxiii Ibid
cxiv Ibid
cxv https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/d292bb3d-016d-7672-790d-bf77a747193f-R/latest

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cxvi ---. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SKG10024CA0006_1900.
cxvii https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SKG10024CA0004_1900
cxviii https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_SKG10024GR0010_1900
cxix KYRGYZ REPUBLIC, et al. Foreign Assistance Fact Sheet, June 2021. June 2021, www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Kyrgyz-Republic_FY-2020-Country-Assistance-Fact-Sheet.pdf.
cxx https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240419-kyrgyzstan-s-tiktok-block-builds-censorship- fears
cxxi WCW Investigation: NIH-funded lab restrains female kittens & spins them in motion sickness tests. https://blog.whitecoatwaste.org/2024/07/24/wcw- investigation-nih-funded-lab-restrains-female-kittens-spins-them-in-motion- sickness-
tests/
cxxii Ibid
cxxiii Project Details, NIH RePort, Multisensory Integration Producing Nausea and Vomiting. https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10406913
cxxiv WCW Investigation: Pentagon Pays Lab to Electro-Shock Cats, Force Felines to Defecate Marbles. https://blog.whitecoatwaste.org/2024/07/03/wcw-investigation-pentagon-pays-lab-to-electro-shock- cats-force-felines-to-defecate-
marbles/

cxxv Ibid
cxxvi Ibid
cxxvii USAspending.gov. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_F21AP01275_1448.
cxxviii https://www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=6a3a719eed805e2b06b00bc0ba321819
cxxix DUMAC. www.ducks.org/conservation/conserving-wetlands-waterfowl/dumac.
cxxx “Ducks Unlimited De Mexico 50th Anniversary.” Ducks Unlimited De Mexico 50th Anniversary,
www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/DUMAC50.
cxxxi “Ahlan Simsim Iraq | Fact Sheet | U.S. Agency for International Development.” U.S. Agency For International Development, www.usaid.gov/iraq/fact-sheets/ahlan-simsim-iraq.35
cxxxii Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “19 Years After the Invasion: A Reflection on the U.S. Military Presence in Iraq - Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.” Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, 13 May 2024,
quincyinst.org/events/19-years-after-the-invasion-a-reflection- on-the-u-s-military-presence-in-iraq.
cxxxiii McKelvey, Tara. “Arming Syrian rebels: Where the US went wrong.” BBC News, 9 Oct. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33997408.
cxxxiv Alshamary, Marsin, and Reva Dhingra. “Corruption is the forgotten legacy of the Iraq invasion.” Brookings, 3 Apr. 2023, www.b rookings.edu/articles/corruption-is-the-forgotten-legacy-of-the-iraq- invasion.
cxxxv Sesame Workshop. “Ahlan Simsim - Sesame Workshop.” Sesame Workshop, 20 Nov. 2023, sesameworkshop.org/our-work/shows/mena-ahlan-simsim.
cxxxvi https://www.nationalreview.com/news/coronavirus-pandemic-senator-kamala-harris-introduces- resolution-condemning-use-of-wuhan-virus-as-racist/
cxxxvii https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/9b169470-83d9-1222-e79d-e2d261c8a2d9-R/latest
cxxxviii https://www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=fe2470cfe7a8b3f55fe31ee881ce3ec9

cxxxix TRADING ECONOMICS. “Bosnia and Herzegovina Unemployment Rate.” TRADING ECONOMICS, tradingeconomics.com/bosnia-and-herzegovina/unemployment-rate.
cxl Project, B. (2024, May 30). Top 10 facts about poverty in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.o rg/facts-about-poverty-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/
cxli Axe, David. “How the Navy’s Warship of the Future Ran Aground.” WIRED, 3 Aug. 2011, www.wired.com/2011/08/future-warship-ran-
aground/#%3A~%3Atext%3DWith%20an%20enormous%20splash%20and%2Cclass%20in%20nearly%2020%20years.
cxlii Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. “Littoral Combat Ship Class - LCS.” Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, www.surfpac.navy.mil/Ships/By-Class/Littoral-Combat-Ship-Class-LCS.
cxliii Sapien, Joaquin. “How the Navy Spent Billions on Failed Littoral Combat Ship Program.” ProPublica, 25 Apr. 2024, www.propubli ca.org/article/how-navy-spent-billions-littoral-combat-ship.
cxliv Bloomberg - Are you a robot? 7 May 2013, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-05-07/navy-ship-can-t-meet-mission-internal-u-s-%20report-finds.
cxlv Defense, Breaking. “Sleepless In Singapore: LCS Is Undermanned & Overworked, Says GAO.” Breaking Defense, 8 June 2022, breakingdefense.com/2014/04/sleepless-in-singapore-lcs-is-undermanned-overworked-says-gao.
cxlvi Ziezulewicz, Geoff. “The littoral combat ship’s latest problem: Class-wide structural defects leading to hull cracks.” Navy Times, 18 Aug. 2022, www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/05/10/the-littoral-combat-ships-latest-problem-
class-wide-structural-defects-leading-to-hull-cracks.
cxlvii ---. “How the Navy Spent Billions on Failed Littoral Combat Ship Program.” ProPublica, 25 Apr. 2024, www.propublica.org/article/how-navy-spent-billions-littoral-combat-ship.
cxlviii Eckstein, Megan. “Navy effort to cancel LCS mission package triggers new cost breach.” Defense News, 19 Aug. 2022, www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/05/13/navy-effort-to-cancel-lcs-mission-package-triggers-new-cost-breach.
cxlix O’Rourke, Ronald and Congressional Research Service. Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. RL33741, Congressional Research Service, 5 Mar. 2014, pp. 7–5700.
apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA599383.pdf.
cl LaGrone, Sam. “USS Freedom Sidelined After Propulsion Casualty.” USNI News, 29 Aug. 2016, news.usni.org/2016/08/28/uss-freedom-suffers-propulsion-casualty-diesel-engine-contaminated-rust-seawater.
cli Weisgerber, Marcus, and Patrick Tucker. “Upgrades Will Let the Navy’s LCS Operate in More Dangerous Waters.” Defense One, 11 Apr. 2021, www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/12/upgrades-will-let-navys-lcs-operate-more-dangerous-

waters/101172.
clii Axe, David. “Builder Blames Navy as Brand-New Warship Disintegrates.” WIRED, 23 June 2011, www.wired.com/2011/06/shipbuilder-blames-navy-as-brand-new-warship-disintegrates.
cliii Eckstein, Megan. “US Navy Reveals Ships Facing Potential Decommissioning Next Year.” Defense News, 19 Aug. 2022, www.defensen ews.com/naval/2022/04/04/us-navy-reveals-ships-facing-potential-decommissioning-next-year.
cliv Littoral Combat Ship Still Fighting to Prove Its Worth. www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2024/3/26/littoral-combat-ship-still-fighting-to-prove-its-
worth#%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%20service%20had%20already%20spent%2Cto%20more%20than%20%2460%20billion.
clv United States Government Accountability Office. “LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP Actions Needed to Address Significant Operational Chall enges and Implement Planned Sustainment Approach.” Report to the Committee on Armed Services, House
of Representatives, report, GAO-22-105387, Feb. 2022, www.gao.gov/assets/d22105387.pdf.
clvi Peterson Foundation. “National Debt Clock: What Is the National Debt Right Now?” Peterson Foundation, 10 Dec. 2024, www.pgpf.org/national-debt-
clock/#%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%20%2435%20trillion%20(and%20growing%2Cfunds%20and%20other%20government%20accounts.
clvii “Mission, Values and Ingredients — Bearded Ladies Cabaret.” Bearded Ladies Cabaret, beardedladiescabaret.com/mission-and-values.
clviii “This drag show in Philly is about climate change, and warm weather spoiled its opening night.” WHYY, 18 Feb. 2023, https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-drag-show-climate-change-bearded-ladies-cabaret/.
clix GRANT to BEARDED LADIES CABARET | USAspending. www.usaspending.gov/award/ASST_NON_1926283-78-24_5920.
clx Aap. “Olympics: Raygun fails to fire in Breaking debut - ESPN.” ESPN.com, 9 Aug. 2024, www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40798973/paris-2024-olympics-raygun-fails-fire- breakdancing-breaking-debut.
clxi ---. www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=2ae811b71e158665ac1fce556f1d6f52.

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