32 Really STUPID Uses of YOUR TAX MONEY in 2008

Voicemail for the homeless, an inflatable alligator, classes on how to make salsa, an historic trail that is completely underwater, these are only a few of the really stupid things your tax money has been used for during 2008. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) created a report that show some of the worst examples of federal spending in the last 12 months. Below for your appraisal are my 32 most favorite along with some snide remarks:

1) Voicemail For the Homeless-I wonder if they will put wires through the subway grate directly into into the Cardboard Boxes. While the homeless in Summit County struggle to find food, shelter and clothing, this Ohio community made sure they were not lacking in one essential service: voice mail. A $1 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) will carve out $15,000 for the free voice mail service. Interestingly, the community spent only $10,000 of the same CDBG grant on transitional housing for "homeless single parents."

2) Training Classes for Casino Workers – Kansas ($784,000) Good casino workers are hard to find in the Kansas City area, according to the Departments of Labor and Education. Both federal departments teamed up this year and gave $784,000 in grants to the Kansas City Kansas Community College for a new training program geared to assist workers that may seek employment in a nearby planned casino. "Every casino operator has talked to us about this," said Lori Trumbo, dean of business and continuing education at the community college. "They are going to need these employees, and they’re going to need them to be well‐trained. Can't they just watch CSI?

3) Inflatable Alligator and Under‐the‐Sea Waterslide – Texas ($367,000) Can Someone buy me one for my my pool? A preliminary report by the Texas Education Agency, released this past April, found that $367,000 in federal funds were misspent by the Cleburne school district. Audit officials became suspicious when, "The district did not provide lesson plans or other documentation to show how rental of an inflatable alligator and an under‐the‐sea water slide supported reading instruction."

4)Tennis Courts and Artificial Baseball Field Turf – Howard Beach, New York ($1 million)- Fool Me Once Shame on you, Fool Me Twice It Must Be the Government. In 2000, the Frank M. Charles Memorial Park received a federal grant of $1 million to upgrade its deteriorating facilities, but according to Dorothy McCloskey, president of the park’s oversight committee, "the money was wasted." The problem, she insisted, was the park management’s "notorious inability" to perform routine maintenance, leaving the tennis courts and baseball fields in a state of disrepair. Taxpayers chipped in an additional $1 million grant this year to repair the tennis courts and to provide artificial turf for a baseball field.There is hope that this time will be different, "I’m not willing to see another million dollars wasted," McCloskey said.

5) The Heart of Rock and Roll gets $9,400/Student to teach Salsa Making – Cleveland Ohio ($517,000) Fifty‐five teenagers are learning to plant vegetables and do landscaping through the Cleveland Botanical Garden’s "Green Corps," a work‐study program that teaches teens to make salsa. A grant of $517,000 – or more than $9,400 per student – was directed to the Green Corps out of juvenile justice programs at the Department of Justice. Students are instructed how to use the vegetables they grow to bottle and sell "Ripe from Downtown® salsa and vinaigrette."Geri Unger, director of the program, noted the impact it is having on teens, "For many, this is the first time they've eaten vegetables they actually see growing."

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