We could use more people in Washington like Senator Rand Paul (R-KY.) He’s one of the rarest of rare breeds in the federal government, a fiscal hawk – and he’s unapologetic about it, especially now, in the Festivus season, which he has adopted as part of an annual observation. Granted, the made-up holiday of Festivus didn’t start with the good senator. It was introduced to the national culture by comedian Jerry Stiller on the television show “Seinfeld,” as a sort of Christmas alternative; he described it as “Festivus, a holiday for the rest of us.” In the show’s canon, a part of the observance of Festivus was the airing of grievances.
When it comes to federal spending, Sen. Paul has some grievances to air, and since 2016, he has done so by releasing his annual Festivus Report detailing wasteful government spending – and as you can imagine, the federal budget gives him plenty to work with. We now have seen the 2024 Festivus Report – and boy howdy, it contains some real humdingers.
The good Senator begins:
This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12. That’s over $1 trillion in government waste, including things like ice-skating drag queens, a $12 Million Las Vegas pickleball complex, $4,840,082 on Ukrainian influencers, and more! No matter how much money the government has wasted, politicians keep demanding even more.
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That is, of course, what governments do – at all levels, although Washington is even less constrained than state and local governments. Why? Because only Washington can turn on the fiscal printing presses and WHIRRRR out a few trillion with which to buy votes. Well, we can take it from the source that a part of the tradition of Festivus is the airing of grievances.
So, let’s take a look at the report and
air some grievances.
Girls Just Wanna Have Funds. The Department of State (DOS) spent $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil.
While American households need to spend an additional $1,095 each month or $13,138 per year to maintain the same consumption basket they had in January 2021, the State Department decided to do what it does best: spend your money on something you never asked for and probably never will. This time, they’ve outdone themselves by sending $3 million of your hard-earned tax dollars to a Netherlands-based organization. Apparently, the climate can’t be saved without first dividing it up into gender-based silos. Because, as we all know, carbon emissions and rising sea levels are deeply concerned with inclusivity.
This is well to the left of ridiculous. We’ve covered the hooraw over anthropogenic climate change here many times (and likely will many more times, as the lunatics never give up), but isn’t it enough that Washington sinks enough of our hard-earned taxpayer dollars into “green energy” boondoggles here? Why must we fund activism and boondoggles elsewhere in the world? Doesn’t the Netherlands have taxpayers of their own that can pony up $3 million (that’s 5,394,898 Dutch guilders, if you were wondering) for this nonsense?
But there’s more. Granted, one of the (few) legitimate roles of government is to protect the liberty and property of the citizens. While in these times that often means fighting terrorism, apparently the State Department also thinks that fighting terrorism can be achieved by promoting soccer.
Goalposts & Grandstanding. The Department of State (DOS) spent $345,434 on football engagement to counter terrorism.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of State spent $98,765 on a grant to “counter recruitment and build resilience against terrorism and violent extremism for at-risk communities in
Albania primarily using sport (football) as a means of engagement.” This grant went to the Football for Peace Foundation, which is based out of London, England. Not only did the U.S. government spend nearly $100k on football, or according to the recipient’s website, “advancing sports diplomacy initiatives,” in another country, but the State Department also apparently believed funding this initiative would help stop violent extremism. Then in 2024, the DOS allotted $246,699 to the UK Football for Peace Foundation to promote peaceful football in Serbia and the Maldives.
Peaceful football? That may be counter-productive, given the riots and looting that sometimes accompanies a sports franchise losing a game – or winning one.
But that ridiculous notion isn’t a patch on spending our money to encourage DEI among birdwatchers.
Flocking Together! DEI Takes Flight The National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $288,563 to Ensure Bird Watching Groups Have Safe Spaces aka “Affinity Groups”
In yet another shining example of wasteful government spending, the National Science Foundation has decided that the world of bird watching needs a dose of diversity, equity, and inclusion. To that end, they’ve approved a grant of $288,563 to create “affinity groups” within ornithological societies—basically, bird-watching clubs— based on identity characteristics. Nearly $300,000 of your tax dollars are being used to sort bird watchers into groups based on who they are or how they identify themselves, rather than what they love—watching birds. It seems that even the peaceful pastime of observing our feathered friends isn’t safe from the DEI craze that has taken over our country.
I’m a bird watcher myself. It’s a popular pastime here in the Great Land. In fact, with all the birds and other assorted wildlife around our rural Susitna Valley home, there are times when we humans feel distinctly outnumbered, and sometimes the birds and wildlife actually start watching us, which can be a trifle unsettling. But $300,000 to promote race- and sex-based birdwatching groups? There is no sane world in which the federal government should be spending a red cent on this nonsense – but then, Washington doesn’t really exist in the sane world anymore.
There’s a lot more in the entire report. I encourage you to take it all in – and remember that this is just the tip of the iceberg. But there’s a bright spot: Where Elon Musk, Vivec Ramaswamy, and the DOGE are concerned, this report may as well be a road map.
Happy Festivus!
