Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul issued Wednesday his “Festivus Report,” uncovering over $52 billion in government waste.
The report prepared by Paul, who is chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight, divided the government’s “wasteful spending” in 2021 into subcategories, which included COVID-19 expenditures, Afghanistan and other miscellaneous spending.
It’s that time of year again #wastereportwednesday🗑🔥💸
My 2021 Festivus Report is officially out! This year we found a whopping $52,598,515,585.00 billion dollars in government waste.
Head over to my website to read the entire review and let us know your favorite! pic.twitter.com/0cuPvw0mBn
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) December 22, 2021
The COVID-19 spending detailed in Paul’s report included $4.29 billion in loans that went to people who did not qualify to receive them under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), $36 billion in unemployment insurance that was “paid improperly, with a significant portion attributable to fraud,” and $1.27 million in funds that that Baltimore City Public Schools received for students who weren’t even enrolled. (RELATED: Government Agency Wasted $143 Billion On Medicaid Overpayments In 2019-2020)
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) gave foreign countries permission to use American aircrafts free of charge, which cost approximately $773 million, according to the report. In addition, the U.S. Air Force purchased $549 million worth of aircrafts for the Afghan Air Force, all of which were later sold “at “scrap” value of $40,257,” and others.
Paul’s report also included $2.4 million for production of a film on dinosaurs intended to inspire middle schoolers, $11.3 million that went to instructing “the people of Vietnam to stop burning their trash” and $465,339 awarded in research grants to a study that investigated “pigeons gambling habits” as a way to understand human’s gambling addiction.
“No matter how much money’s already been wasted, politicians keep demanding even more,” the report says.
