Elizabeth Harrington of the Washington Free Beacon reports on the latest evidence that the federal government has a warped sense of priorities.
More than half a million dollars for a film about Mickey Mouse, $5,000 to study Hello Kitty, and more than $50,000 getting birds drunk are just a few examples of taxpayer-funded projects exposed by Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) in his latest book on government waste.
The Washington Free Beacon exclusively obtained a copy of McCain’s fourth edition of America’s Most Wasted. … The report chronicles more than $27 billion in wasteful spending that ranges from billions in handouts to Hollywood, horseracing, and the wind industry, to $15,000 for a movie about hula dancing.
A main target for McCain was the National Science Foundation, which spent $872,164 to study how children cross the street. The results found that children tend to take greater risks when crossing the street compared to adults, “something generations of American parents already knew,” the report said.
Another project by the agency cost $10,960 to study old male hunting dogs in Nicaragua. The results found that older dogs were more successful hunters than younger dogs and that “dogs that are not good hunters are almost never taken on excursions.”
The National Science Foundation was not the only government agency to engage in questionable research. The Department of Education shelled out $5,000 to study Japanese cartoon character Hello Kitty.
