Washington’s reckless spending is driving America into debt — and yet federal bureaucrats continue their wasteful and frivolous ways. The latest example comes courtesy of today’s Washington Post, which features a story that should infuriate any taxpayer. As the federal government’s fiscal year draws to a close Monday, agencies are spending wildly on big-ticket items like artwork, office supplies and furniture. Here are just a few examples of what was happening in Washington last week: On Monday, VA paid $27,000 for an order of photographs showing sunsets, mountain peaks and country roads. They would go into a new center serving homeless veterans in Los Angeles; a spokeswoman described the art as “motivational and calming, professionally designed to enhance clinical operations.” On Tuesday, the USDA bought $127,000 worth of toner cartridges (“end of year,” the order explained). VA spent another $220,000 on artwork for its hospitals. On Wednesday, the Coast Guard paid $178,000 for cubicle furniture, replacing high-walled cubes with low-walled ones to improve the air flow in a large office area. “Other higher-priority projects were not able to be executed, so they moved [money] to this lower-priority project” before the year’s end, said Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Diaz. “The money was going to be spent anyway.” On Thursday, VA was buying art again. It spent $216,000 on artwork for a facility in Florida. In all, preliminary data showed that the agency made at least 18 percent of all its art purchases for the year in this one week. One-sixth of the buying in one-52nd of the year. Accompanying the Washington Post story is an infographic (click below to enlarge) that paints the picture of a government hell-bent on spending money before it’s gone: 19.1 percent of all spending came in the final five weeks of the fiscal year and 15.2 percent of contracts were awarded during that time.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 22:51:26 +0000
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