Spending Our Money

Senator Tom Coburn does not think that the Pentagon is doing a good job spending our money, as it spends a lot on non-defense areas such as running grocery stores, teaching kindergartners, brewing beer & make beef jerky, building windmills and studying flying dinosaurs. It's a fascinating report.  

Did you know?  The Department of Defense launched more than 100 renewable energy-related initiatives in 2010, more than any other federal agency including the Department of Energy. Many of these DOD renewable energy projects were so poorly planned, they failed to be cost effective or even produce power, wasting millions of national security dollars.

Did you know that the Pentagon spends $9 billion a year on grocery stores?

Did you know that there are over 300,000 military members performing civilian-type job functions?

Did you know? The Pentagon budget also funds other scientific research, duplicating the work by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other federal agencies. For example, the Navy recently funded research examining what the behavior of fish can teach us about democracy while also developing an app to alert iPhone users when the best time is to take a coffee break. Both the Navy and the Air Force funded a study that concluded people in New York use different jargon on Twitter than those living in California.

Did you know that the Pentagon will spend at least $580 million this year on global health activities, more than either the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health?

Did you know that the DOD, for example, has more than eight members serving on the Board of Geographic Names, an obscure agency under the U.S. Geological Survey in charge of naming streams, mountains, hills, and plains across the United States.

Did you know? The Pentagon recently joined the cooking show craze by partnering with the Department of Agriculture to produce a reality cooking show called Grill It Safe featuring two Grill Sergeants showing off their own “delicious recipes suitable for cooking outdoors”?