By Adam Andrzejewski for RealClearPolicy
During September 2019, federal agencies spent $91 billion on 642,567 transactions — an average of $3 billion on 21,418 transactions each day. In September 2018, the feds spent $97 billion.
If those figures are shocking, they should be.
Federal agencies worry that if they spend less than their budget allows, Congress may give them less funding next fiscal year.
So, they begin an annual spending spree with a “use-it or lose-it” mentality to spend all their budgeted funds by the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.
That led to spending $91 billion in just one month in 2019, with $23.8 billion of that coming in just the final two business days of the fiscal year, according to an oversight report by OpenTheBooks.com.
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Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, the last day, broke all records with $12.2 billion in spending. Friday, Sept. 27, was second in line, spending $11.6 billion.
This year-end spending spree went to massive purchases like aircraft ($5.2 billion), gas turbines and jet engines ($4.4 billion), and construction of buildings ($1.4 billion). But it also paid for things like clothes ($328 million), transportation ($254 million) furniture ($458 million), food ($536 million), marketing and public relations ($457 million), batteries ($53 million), books and pamphlets ($23 million), and games, toys, and wheeled goods ($1.1 million).
There must be a better way to spend $91 billion of taxpayer money.
Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.
The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.