Congress can find more ways to cut government spending and there are numerous programs of questionable value that Congress should eliminate, according to an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Americans, the Heritage Network reported.
The latest budget deal, passed by a bipartisan majority in both the House and the Senate, suggests that Washington agrees with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when she said that "the cupboard is bare. There are no more cuts to make."
The cupboard, however, is allegedly overflowing with liquor, crystal glassware, and more.
According to the Heritage Network, here is a list of the top 5 examples of wasteful government spending this year, serving as a reminder that there is no shortage of excessive spending in Washington:
5. Booze and crystal for the State Department: $5.4 million. The State Department went on a bender the week before the government shutdown, purchasing $5 million of "exquisite" crystal glassware to presumably drink the $400,000 in booze they purchased in 2013.
4. Monitoring depression on Twitter: $82,000 The National Institutes of Health is funding a study "to use Twitter for surveillance on depressed people," according to the Free Beacon.
3. Seven-figure stack of rocks at the London Embassy: $1 million. The American Embassy in London will be receiving a granite sculpture from an artist "whose work resembles stacked piles of paving stones," according to the Daily Mail.
2. Artwork for Veterans Affairs offices: $562,000. The Department of Veterans Affairs went on a spending spree during "use it or lose it" season, purchasing over half a million in artwork and millions in furniture in a single week.
1. Government employee trip to luxury hotel in the Caribbean: priceless. Federal employees took a taxpayer-funded trip to the Buccaneer Hotel in St. Croix-the same hotel made famous on TV's "The Bachelor." The bill was divided among a number of agencies, making a final tally difficult to come by.
Honorable Mention: Pizza - from a printer: $124,995. NASA gave a six-figure grant to a company that aspires to make pizza from a 3-D printer.
Congressional refusal to cut spending and prioritize taxpayer money more appropriately year after year has put the nation in a $17 trillion debt, the Heritage Network reported.
Congress will have another opportunity before Jan. 15, when considering the 2014 spending bill, to do better. Fiscal restraint is long overdue.
Here is an extended list of Top 10 examples of government waste in 2013:
