A HUGE shout out goes to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R)!
Not only does he serve his state well in the Senate, he is also a Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC). Among his list of impressive achievements is the subject of this post today.
In 2023, Senator Rand Paul released his 9th annual report entitled “Festivus” in which he highlights absurd cases of actual government-funded projects. The estimated cost of all the projects featured in this year’s edition of Festivus total ~$900,000,000,000 in government waste.
To make it is easy on you… That is NINE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!
Per the HSGAC website:
“Some of the highlights include the National Institutes of Health spending a portion of a $2.7 million grant to study Russian cats walking on a treadmill and Barbies used as proof of ID for receiving COVID Paycheck Protection Program funds. The Department of Defense ruined over $169 million worth of military equipment by leaving it outside, the United States Agency for International Development spent $6 million to promote tourism in Egypt, and the Small Business Administration gave ‘struggling’ music artists like Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne over $200 million.”
Click the link to view Dr. Paul’s 2023 Festivus Report.
How It All Began
Before the annual report came to be, it was pop culture’s TV sensation Seinfeld was the inspiration behind Dr. Paul’s 2013 hilarious twitter rants that started it all!
And again in 2014…
https://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/happy-festivus-senator-rand-paul-airs-his-grievances-msna492586
Festivus
For those of you that don’t know (I didn’t!)…
Festivus is a secular (nonreligious) holiday celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the perceived pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season.
Originally created by author Daniel O’Keefe, Festivus entered popular culture after it was made the focus of the 1997 Seinfeld episode “The Strike“,[1][2] which O’Keefe’s son, Dan O’Keefe, co-wrote.
Past Editions
I thought you might be interested in viewing the past editions of Dr. Rand’s publications as well 🙂 Here they are:
- The Waste Report’s Airing of Grievances: Festivus 2015– featuring 30 projects totaling $1,026,957,650
- The Waste Report’s Airing of Grievances: Festivus 2016– featuring 37 projects totaling $1,404,471,000
- The Waste Report’s Airing of Grievances: Festivus 2017– featuring 32 projects totaling $563,421,523
- Chairman Rand Paul’s 2018 Festivus Report– featuring 20 projects totaling $114,514,631
- The Festivus Report 2019– featuring 10 projects totaling $42,680,849
- The Festivus Report 2020– featuring 57 projects totaling $54,746,524,505
- The Festivus Report: 2021– featuring 27 projects totaling $52,598,515,585
- The Festivus Report: 2022– featuring 31 projects totaling $482,276,543,907
- The Festivus Report: 2023– featuring 22 projects totaling ~$900,000,000,000
Since 2015, Dr. Paul’s Festivus Report has revealed
244 projects
totaling $1,492,773,600,000
Additional Links
Here are some additional links to the sources Dr. Paul used over the years that I found particularly interesting.
- US Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters LABOR RELATIONS ACTIVITIES: Actions Needed to Improve Tracking and Reporting of the Use and Cost of Official Time (October 2014)
- Friedman, Milton & Rose. Free to Choose: A Personal Statement. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2bjIFxI
- Full-Time Official Time: A Special Report Exposing Taxpayer-Funded Union Employees (2016) from Americans For Limited Government Foundation (ALGF)
- https://www.afge.org/article/social-security-is-under-siege-and-no-one-is-talking-about-it/
Conclusion
It is true that I have been living with my head “in the sand” for a few years, immersed in research and a journey of healing. So I am obviously behind the times on this fun little annual tradition that brings light to government waste in such an innovative way.
As the numbers seem to get bigger each year, there may be times when Rand Paul has wondered if this work was just a waste of time. And I get that… Many times I have felt discouraged when the truth that I uncovered and shared did little to raise the alarm in my friends and neighbors.
I can understand why most people take the easy road, shrugging their shoulders and going on with their lives. It’s a huge mess and who knows where to start?!
Well, I know that I do not have all the answers… but I am grateful to live in a time when people are finally waking up. I am grateful to live in a time when I am able to take a stand and do something about it. And I am most grateful to live in a time when people are finally starting to come together to do something about it.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of a similar publication that looks into government spending specifically in Iowa…. yet. 😉
What Are Your Thoughts?
Have you been following Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)’s annual Festivus tweets? Do you have a favorite tweet that you would like to share?
Have you had a chance to check out any of the Festivus reports? Were there any projects that you would like to point out specifically?
Let us know in the comments!
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