Senator Rand Paul’s filing of ‘Festivus’ complaints highlights government waste – deadline

American Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has a lot of problems with you. And today, you will hear about them.

Paul posted his annual online greeting to government waste as part of today’s Festivus celebration. He published a 139-page “Festivus Report” that sets out his complaints about $ 54 billion in federal spending that he considers “money totally wasted”.

Festivus, for the uninitiated, was a non-commercial holiday invented by Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) in the classic Seinfeld sitcom. Each December 23, Costanza, rejecting the crass commercialism that has accumulated around the Christmas holiday, opted for a Festivus dinner, an unadorned aluminum pole as a substitute Christmas totem and the annual “Grievance of Complaints” followed by “Made of Strength.”

Jerry Seinfeld remembers Jerry Stiller in the SiriusXM interview: “He was so perfect”

The episode referred to the holiday as “a Festivus for the rest of us” and quickly became part of the cultural zeitgeist.

Paulo took on Costanza’s rejection of the status quo in his annual message by ridiculing government waste.

The senator’s top 10 complaints include:

  • About $ 1.5 million from the National Science Foundation devoted to research involving lizards walking on a treadmill;
  • Nearly $ 20 million that the Federal Aviation Administration spent to renovate an airport taxiway on Nantucket Island that is “most often used by private jets”, with part of the funds coming from Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.
  • More than $ 10 million, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has designated the purchase of test tubes for coronavirus testing, only to receive bottles of minisoda;
  • About $ 2 million, the National Institutes of Health, has earmarked for research on the ability to reduce stress in hot baths.

“It is more important than ever for Congress to find its fiscal backbone. Our debt puts the long-term solvency of large programs like Social Security at risk, ”said the senator. “And why? To pay for test tubes for COVID tests that turned out to be soda bottles? To see if the hot tub a few times a week relieves stress?”

Meanwhile, Seinfeld costars Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander posted their own messages on Festivus. Seinfeld may have been a veiled blow to Rand Paul.

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