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The Five Most Ridiculous Uses of Government Money
While funding custom-fit condoms was stretching the government's buck just a little too far for some, the following 5 stunning expenses, earmarks, and pork spending that Bloomberg uncovered are mind-blowing. From over $500,000 on pet shampoo to what to eat on planet Mars; none of these compare with the back-pay for no work paid to Federal employees during the shutdown. Watch this 72 seconds of gluttony without throwing something at your monitor...
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How much for the drone strikes on wedding parties in nations we are not at war with, like Yemen? Those chemical-weapon enhanced missiles are not a cheap wedding gift, and it wasn't even listed on the bride and groom's registry.
Priceless
Not exactly.
You would think there would be a law against chemical weapons.........oh wait.
I guess it's like any other law, it doesn't apply to those who make the laws.
LMT up 63% in one year, and look at that dividend yield!
Way to go, Marillyn!
Communists are pretty much identical to fascists regarding the subordination of human rights to the state. Considering that Obama has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of US drone strikes, that is supportive of my assertion.
Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite
Obama is a communist, put in charge to manage the transition of the US from fascism to communism. Virtually all meaningful corporations are international in scope, and have so thoroughly merged into western governments that they are arguably part of them now. Huge chunks of the federal bureaucracy are run by corporate executives in between corporate gigs. Corporations certainly do all the heavy lifting in the marketing and propaganda departments, and along with the University system manage all indoctrination services for all subject humans 18+ years and older.
"Virtually all meaningful corporations are international in scope, and have so thoroughly merged into western governments that they are arguably part of them now. Huge chunks of the federal bureaucracy are run by corporate executives in between corporate gigs."
Which spells total Fascism! Watch what they do not what they say. Wage destruction, widening wealth gap, trickle up economics.
While pennies are thrown at citizenry to keep them from starving and thus rising up and questioning the powers to be the actual WEALTH is being redistributed to a select few who are profiting/raping the rest of us. Aided I might add by those who mouth the socialist meme over and over again when nothing can be further from the truth.
Remember, Obamas pick for job czar was Jeffery Immelt? Obamas attorney general is going after none of the corporations that aided and abetted the crash for nothing other than pennies in hush money.
The protection of the rich and poweful and the colusion that has occured to increase there wealth at the expense of the rest of us is no where close to socialism. My God we subsidize the corporations by giving their workers food stamps cause the motherfuckers moan and grown about having to pay workers enough to fucking EAT!
Fools or Tools?
You can not fight an enemy if you do not know who and what they are!
Addendum: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-16/bernankes-legacy-record-13-tril...
You can't have fascism without clear lines between nations and national interests. With international corporations come international interests, and necessarily, international socialism. Under fascism, corporations serve the interests of their owners. Under communism, corporations serve the interests of the Party Elite, which in this case, are the corporate executives, politicians, and bureaucrats that all benefit. Shareholders (owners) no longer meaningfully benefit.
American corporations are practicing economic Imperialism. Even in communist countries such as China the wealth is trickeling to the top as their people are used for our corporate interest.
" Under communism, corporations serve the interests of the Party Elite, which in this case, are the corporate executives, politicians, and bureaucrats that all benefit. Shareholders (owners) no longer meaningfully benefit."
Our politicians and bureacrats serve themselves and the corporations. Again, we are spending taxpayer dollars to provide benefits to workers whom corporations refuse to pay a living wage. We are and have been subsidizng corprations for the sole purpose of enhanciing their profit margins. We then shoot down attempts by the workers who attempt to advocate for themselves via Unions or whatever by calling them communist. Which of course make the corporate pigs quite happy as the marketing machine works just as well with propaganda.
We have redirected our whole justice system to focus on dissident citizens as oppossed to crooked politicians, lobbyists (both of who are actually corprate UNION members along with PAC's and such).
Communist countries are a joke as they too have the special few that join their 1%'s via selective permision to be "capitalists". Depends on who ya pay eh!
Minority sharehholders rarely benefit. Who are the major shareholders and their cronies? The ones who get bailed out?
Again depends on who pays who. A totally capitalistic practice protected by facists.
You are both wrong. There is no single unified conspiracy. There are several. You have the bankers bernaking. You have the the politicians oblahblahing. You have the corporations incorporating. The workers of the world are working, no doubt hard and for all of our benefits. The MIC just keeps on keeping us all safe.
Obama certainly is some kind of ist. Who knows which? He's a politician. His lips are moving. He's lying. You don't know anything about his true intent except that he seems fond of himself, tends to talk bigger than he walks, misses a lot of freethrows, and he can get congress to bend every single time.
This looks like a multiway consolidation and distribution of power. All must know that none will be satisfied. So close to the ring... must... have... it... all... I think they will tear each other apart. Sadly they will take many of us with.
Communism, socialism, fascism are all down there on the left end of the political spectrum. They are all schemes to delude the people that they are getting something for nothing when in fact they are just creating monopolies for favored industries and connected benefactors.
The only real difference between Socialism/Fascism/Communision is the means used to achieve the end goal.
In all 3 cases the end result is the same a TOTALITARIAN government that controls everything you do and say.
Tell me with a straight face that you do not see that happening right now.
Pretty good difference in who owns what.
Do you think that there was not an Oligarchy within the former Soviet Union? Do you think that they were not exempt from the laws?
Do you think that there was not an Oligarchy within the former Nazi Germany? Do you think that they were not exempt from the laws?
Do you think that there was not an Oligarchy within the current United States? Do you think that they are not exempt from the laws?
You see the theater played out on stage and fail to understand what is going on Backstage.
Haven't you been entertained long enough, now?
Fascism, Fabianism, Marxism all exist to serve the oligargchy while giving the serfs the impression that it is, somehow, serving them. This ends up fleecing the serfs of their wealth, enslaves the masses. and forces their servitude. The master, We the People, become the servant as it regressively degenerates.
This theme has been played out countless times on the World Stage. It transcends borders and has been doing so for Milennia.
Are you awake yet?
Just make sure that you are one of the owners of Real Wealth. That way you will have a chance, not a guarantee, but a chance, when the whole damned charade disintegrates before your very eyes.
It is better to have a chance than to have no chance at all.
+1. The arguments about which we live under is pointless. As if parts of all of them can't exist at the same time. They are all forms of totalitarian regimes that any intelligent person should object to. And we obviously live in such a world
YOur assertion of what? That:
"Communists are pretty much identical to fascists regarding the subordination of human rights to the state."
Jesus. What the fuck is wrong with humanity? We have to goddamn stop these people.
Unfortunately nothing short of a killing fields type scenario is going to provide any measurable change.
That's exactly what Iraq's and Afghanistan's insurgents were trying to do; to stop these people.
well i'm proud to be an american where at least i know i'm free...
Holy Shit, and the government won't let me buy strike anywhere matches anymore because they contain minute amounts of phosphorus sesquisulfide? WTF?
They hate us for our freedoms.
Hopefully a family member of this child can make their way over here and kill Obama. Is that illegal to wish or hope that someone will kill our President? If not obonghole better get his pen out and make it so. If that was my child only death could stop me from taking revenge on the "O"ne who authorizes these drone strikes.
This will be coming to homes here soon in the USSA. The longer we wait and let the government develop/deploy these drones the more bleak our future. I am starting to think that it was not by chance that the first Terminator movie came out in 1984! Skynet is operational and getting stronger by the day.
We had to destroy those around the terrorists to save them . . .
You mean not at war with YET... officially anyway.
And as for the drone attacks... we now call them Wedding crashers.
I think a lot of people will just stop paying taxes soon in seeing what a joke the government has become.
It's nearly impossible to stop paying the inflation tax, which is now the largest tax Americans pay, due to Fed printing.
Bitcoin, Gold, Ammo, dried and canned food. These are not inflatible.
don't forget the 2nd strike at the funeral to get the ones you missed.
What if....
http://goldenrulenews.org/
You are right, but, unfortunately for the recipients it was something of a SURPRISE.
Evil bastards are running the place and we need to find a way to stop them. ASAP.
Missed the biggest one of all... PAYROLL.
Truly amazing ... we pay them twice the average private sector pay to think up way to spend our money ... cut .gov by 50% and nobody would notice (except those expecting a check every Thursday)
It's way worse than that.
They use the money they stole from you to spy on you and pay for the thugs in blue to oppress you.
Oh, yes, they also use it to reduce the number of brown people on the planet.
If you are not angry about what's going on, you are simply blind, stupid or both.
$500,000 is nothing. You would be amazed at how much in travel expenses some gov't employees ring up. Basically their job includes giving a 1 hour speach while attending a 5 day seminar at some vacation spot. They do this 10 times a year, All at taxpayer expense.
A new report about that very subject...
Even after the Abramoff reforms, companies and countries looking to sway Congress find ways to ply lawmakers with fancy overseas trips
How Lobbyists Still Fly Through Loopholeshttp://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/how-lobbyists-still-fly-through-...
Lobbying = BRIBERY.
FIFY
Another example of ZH turning Red Team MSM. In more relevant news, I hear that Congress is considering asking pretty please for the MIC to tell it how much it spends on its "black budget" (just top line figures, no details). Because, you know, they're curious and stuff.
How did you come to the conclusion this is a red-team issue? Honestly, I am fascinated how wasting taxpayer money is only an issue for one side of the aisle.
You sound like you've got a tummyache lately or maybe you had to put your dog down recently or something.
The Blue Team thinks there is unlimited money for everything. The Red Team thinks there is unlimited money for the MIC and Prison Industrial Complex and NSA, and convinces its followers that the way to pay for those things is to cut "waste" that amounts to a hill of beans in comparison to MIC/crony give aways. It's the model that has worked for politicians for 40 years and it's sad to see ZH picking up on the mentality under its new ownership.
Well, don't forget that national defense and prosecuting war are actual enumerated powers in the US constitution. Unlike virtually everything the left side of the aisle likes to spend money on.
That said I don't entirely disagree with your point.
Kind of have to be careful with that "national defense" line. It speaks of the "common defense" in the reasoning for laying and collecting taxes.
The constitution did not even allow a standing army, only the raising of one, and for no longer than 2 years.
And will you please stop this left-right bullshit.
pods
You missed something important...
Blue Team/Red Team is theatre.
THEY ARE ALL THE FUCKING SAME!!
A front/distraction from the (small number of) people who really run the place.
Time to kill the root.
Is that something you and Pajama Boy had a discussion about over the holidays?
I've always kind of wondered how Congress manages to appropriate money for black projects without knowing how much to spend or whom to give it to.
A lot of that $$ comes from slush fund money. Drugs, guns, etc.
pods
NY Fed exchange stabilization fund.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/presenting-exchange-stabilization-fund-5-p...
Well taken as a one off I would say no, but there seems to be more and more MSM type articles popping up.
Wouldn't go so far as to say they are on a team now, but it will be something to watch.
A lot of old timers seem to be a bit nervous about the hedge as of late. I haven't been around as much, but the "Ten things" articles are starting to appear more and more.
pods
" I hear that Congress is considering asking pretty please for the MIC to tell it how much it spends on its "black budget" (just top line figures, no details)."
Do you really think they would get any information from the MIC that is current and useful... Remember on September 10th 2001 when Rumsfeld couldn't find 2 trillion?
We now know a 'little' about the FED's black budget and everyone knows they bailed out international banks and continue to destroy American with reckless policy and I ask you, what has changed?
The message is clear, fuck you, we do what we want when we want until you stop us... NSA, FED, IRS, Executive Order Barry, Syria, Benghazi, Egypt, etc...
2 Trillion! I remember! That was back when $2 trillion seemed like quite a lot of money.
Criticism of blue shouldn't be construed as endorsement of red.
broomturd is part of the probrem.
Paying interest on their own currency... the dollar...
hint: it's a bit more than a million...
I wonder how much interest they pay on the millions of credit cards they have issued?
Picking up pennies in front of a steam roller. Tell me how much of my buying power the federal reserve is inflating away, or how much the banks are picking out of my kids pockets. Therein lies the real theft. The fed prints enough currency to cover this in a nano-second.
Doc, it gets the Reds all fired up about austerity. Condoms? Hell, that ain't no enumerated power!
Fucking 99% of what this government does is unlawful.
Zinc pennies in front of the steam roller.
pods
Agreed. Shit like this is just click bait. I guess it does serve one good purpose... Moar people are recognizing that fact.
Inflation...theft...those words don't fully capture what is happening. Let's call it "fascism" because that is closer to what it is. The US gov't and the employees of that gov't don't give a shit what the citizens think. Vote red or blue or something in the middle...it doesn't matter...you will get a deficit spending gov't that likes to counterfeit and pay off their closest friends first. The weirdest thing is that many of these people in DC call themselves "patriots" when instead they are the opposite of that.
I thought the markets would be allowed to enforce discipline on the gov't through rates. Nah. The Fed can come in and mess with the markets. All the people worrying about their kids and inflation...yes...that's going to be awful...sure...like the 70s. But it seems to me the bigger problem is that now we all recognize the bullshit collusion between Wall Street's "too-big-to-fail" and politicians' "too-rich-to-care".
Shit is getting worse...our local city workers are looting the coffers with pay raises and overtime and pension padding...and I didn't even think there was money left to loot! Damn, it is all so frustrating.
The weirdest thing is that many of these people in DC call themselves "patriots" when instead they are the opposite of that.
There's nothing 'weird' about it. The sheep loves them a good patriot.
We pay people in DC to lie to us ... truth would be far cheaper
It's full employment for pathological liars. Think what the unemployment rate would be if they were all laid off.
If I had bigger balls, I'd start a "non-profit" whose stated goal is to take government loot and funnel it directly to the campaigns of its more ardent government "supporters." I'd pay myself a huge salary and travel the world.
When they tell me that that can't be done or is illegal, I would just point to "K" street and the "research" labs of most major universities.
But then I might just end up at Guantanamo or something.
"Ignorance of the Constitution and 'following orders' are not legitimate excuses."
Don't worry, the IRS would never approve your non-profit status anyway.
All you have to do is list your supporters as Acorn, La Raza, Black Panthers etc. and you're home free.
We need to use chemical weapons over there to discourage the world from owning chemical weapons. This aluminum fluoride thing is no big deal. All it does is turn into hydrofluoric acid when it touches water. It's our god given right to use chemical weapons. Damn hippies and your morals and shit. Jesus died for our sins so we could sin even more.
They're not chemical weapons if we're using them; how could they be? We've signed all sorts of conventions 'n shit.
Just carpet-bomb enemy states with Dopium and Hopium (uneducated and uninformed but hopeful), like they do in the US.
Failing that, carpet bomb 'em with Coke, Ice and Dope and Opium.
Failing that, just Monsanto them (used as a verb), and con-trial spray 'em with bio-agents that turn them into whatever the MIC and CBs need them to turn into: bio-mush or compliant zombies.
p.s. Remember that it's a fiat currency anyway, backed by the labor and resources of the rest of the planet -- that is still taking our USDs. As long as they do (and remain willfully stupid to do so), who really cares what stimulant programs some entrepreneurs get. It's more of a testament to their entrepreneurial skills than anything else.
The show and momentum must go on, until it can't. Basic laws of physics and human nature.
Hopium and Monsanto are both carcinogenic.
How about roughly $14 billion a year to subsidize corporations to grow food?
Is that food to be eaten, burned, or not to be grown?
Great gig though, take oil and refine it. Then use it to power machines to help grow corn. Use corn to make ethanol and use that to power machines to do work.
Then call that renewable. Hiking prices along the way while earning adoration by environmental peeps and cost subsidies from the gov.
Could not make this shit up on the funny farm!
pods
Only in the fucked world of big-government would this circular logic make any sense. Unfortunately it's not just a liberal disorder.
It IS JUST a LIBERAL (Non Classical) DISORDER.
Both Political Parties are just brands of the SAME SOCIALIST PARTY. They are both "LIBERAL".
Haven't you got that yet? With your avatar name's sake you should understand that...
Cheaper food, no shortages, I'm actually ok with this one. Food is a necessity and keeping it cheap is very good. 60 years ago it was 30-40% of your budget, now its less than 10%.
Well then just throw more money at it and soon it will be free.
It is cheap now, but it is not food.
More like "food."
pods
60 years ago it was 30-40% of your budget, now its less than 10%.
Lulz. Do you think one of the reasons that non-food items have ballooned from 60-70% of your budget to more than 90% IS because people's pockets have been picked to subsidise food?
Food is probably closer to 40% -50% of the budget in a Middle Class Home. The problem is that the cost is not reflected in the Shelf Price for the Food.
That fictitiously low price is SUBSIDIZED by the Government through the TAX REVENUES WHICH YOU PAY. You can bet that the Government is getting a slice of that pie..PUN INTENDED.
In poorer families it is about the same, is reflected in the shelf price, and not as a result of taxes paid, but as a result of Low Gross Annual Income. (They do not pay taxes.)
Any business which the Government intrudes upon becomes more expensive in the long term. Food is not exempt.
Commodity prices decline as gains in productivity are realized. But that will encourage Saving. The Government cannot have that as DEAD MONEY does not generate TAX REVENUES. The entire intention behind the Government is to raise the cost of living to dissuade savings and increase Tax Revenues.
No. I am not okay with SOCIALISM...PLANNED ECONOMIES...OR GOVERNMENT...AT ALL.
I live in the land of DOE & DOD (NM) and no amount of waste would surprise me...it's almost ALL waste and fraud/corruption. Running a national lab is almost as profitable (and corrupt) as running a bank.
According to some people spending money is a good thing LMAO they don't seem to realize that this so called profit is a joke since it comes from interest on the debt.
The Insanely Profitable Federal Reservehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/14/the-insanely-profitable...
Wheres my elephant Simpsons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5YFqb1dD2Y
They didn't list deployment of Ospreys to bor Southern Sudan (they're too backward to get a capital letter for their region) http://www.ryot.org/us-military-osprey-aircraft-hit-rebel-fire-south-sud...
This kind of useless crap is always put out through the major media to get the rank and file riled up.
It is grain of sands in the bucket and means essentially nothing. National defense budget (really over $1.1T) and social transfer payments to the elderly to support Medicare, SSI, and Medciaid single biggest expense (assisted elderly facility expenses) are what is sinking the country. Anyone who argues differently is doing so because of an idealogical stance.
It was good to see how most of the comments above put that relatively trivial video into better perspective.
That's a pretty sad list of government wastes. here's my attempt at a list:
1. Bank bailouts. unknown final amount, likely in the trillions
2. F-35 program, $100 billion+
3. The "War on Terror", tens of billions
4. The NSA. Unknown total costs. Billions annually.
5. Subsidies in general, housing, food, "green", all of it.
EDIT: should explain why waste.
1: bailout was to deleverage the system, but they just leveraged more.
2. failure. One thing that does all things, vapourware.
3. Produced more terrorism, not less. Created more chaos and instability.
4. Not a good security - privacy trade off.
5. Subsidies are to make things more affordable, but make them less affordable instead.