“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.” – President Obama, Inauguration (2009)
Awe sheesh. Liberals and Progressives HATE it when we want to cut even a single sacred dollar out of a budget. “It’s an apocalypse!” they decry; “how ever can government run with such a cut!”.
Sidenote: Doubt me? Come to our Budget Committee meetings later on this fall – I can almost get that reaction on demand.
Yet, when we conservatives and “less government is better govt” types start pointing out that things aren’t quite working out as these spenders predict, they either try to gloss over it and get it off the table or exclaim “you hate children, you Nazi” (ok, perhaps a bit of hyperbole on that first one). But why appropriate $$$ for stuff that gets bought to sit and rust (emphasis mine, reformatted)?
Federal Agencies Spent $13.5 Million on Vehicles They May Not Use
Two federal agencies spent $13.5 million to maintain 2,441 vehicles they may not need, a congressional watchdog reported Tuesday. “Given the billions of dollars spent annually to operate and maintain federally owned vehicles … it is critical for agencies to have sound fleet management practices,” the Government Accountability Office report said.
Customs and Border Protection didn’t know if 81 percent of its 2,300 official vehicles were used in 2015. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, a Department of Agriculture agency, didn’t know if nearly 600 of its 6,223 vehicles were used the same year..GAO also analyzed Department of the Navy vehicles, but the military service couldn’t provide usage data for all 3,652 automobiles.
Overall, federal agencies spent $3.4 billion to maintain and operate almost 450,000 government-owned vehicles in 2015. Agencies also purchased 64,500 vehicles at a cost of more than $1.6 billion from 2011 through 2015, 90 percent of which were bought by just five federal departments. Additionally, federal agencies must purchase automobiles that use alternative fuels in some cases, which can increase vehicle fleet costs.
And this should drive you taxpayers crazy, given the penchant for our last Administration to go, ahem, green:
“For example, an electric-only sub-compact car costs approximately 82 percent more than the standard gasoline-only model,” the report said. “However, in other cases, acquisition costs for alternative fuel vehicles were the same as those of their gasoline-powered counterpart. Agencies also must purchase electric charging stations, which can “be costly and difficult to manage,” the report said.
Green: nice when you get to use other peoples’ money to do with. No, this is not “working”
(H/T: Daily Caller)
