Written by Tod Tompkins
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released his annual report of the top 100 “countless unnecessary, duplicative, or just plain stupid projects spread throughout the federal government” that were “paid for with your tax dollars this year that highlight the out-of-control and shortsighted spending excesses in Washington” (Sen. Coburn clearly pulls no punches). Wastebook 2011 identifies – in Sen. Coburn’s opinion – $6.9 billion worth of spending that should not have occurred over the past 12 months.
Wastebook 2011 provides detailed spending information on things ranging from politician partying to video game preservation; from fraudulent tax credit home improvement claims to three-dimensional, high-definition holographic mummy image exhibits. Now, this report is clearly controversial and debatable – but it does force you to think. What other wasteful spending practices are going on in the government that can easily be addressed?
Let’s start our own Wastebook list. Provide your thoughts in the comment section below. Here are a few of my thoughts to start things off:
- Unnecessary operation and maintenance costs associated with legacy systems and large mainframe environments
- Additional charges resulting from the lack of testing during the application development process
- Costs associated with new system development versus a simple migration
- Loss of production from using old, antiquated technology platforms
What else?
Let’s keep the conversation going during the holidays, and I’ll pick up where I left off in the New Year. Wishing all of our readers and followers a happy (and cost-effective) holiday season.
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