President Obama is slated to release the federal budget for 2009 today. It’s a $3.7 trillion budget with a $1.75 trillion deficit. With 300 million people living in the United States, that works out to well over $11,000 dollars in spending for each American.
Let’s pretend that this year the government is going to give you control over your portion of the federal budget. After all, it is your money, right? So, what are you going to do with your money?
Maybe you’ll take your family on a really nice vacation. Or, you could do some remodeling in your kitchen. You might want to buy your teenager an inexpensive set of wheels for getting around town. Or (gasp!) you could invest it and save it for a rainy day, because we all know the storm’s a-brewin’.
Here are some things I’d bet you wouldn’t spend your money on, if given the choice:
- shrimp aquaculture research — $2.9 million
- wood utilization research — $4.5 million
- swine odor and manure management research — $1.7 million
- data collection on red snapper mortality in Florida — $1 million
- tattoo removal machine for repentant gang members in LA — $200,000
- research for grape genetics — $2.2 million
This is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. In fact, the group Taxpayers for Common Sense has estimated that the 2009 budget contains around $7.7 billion dollars in earmarks like these.
Here’s the best part. The name of President Obama’s submitted budget today?
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