Press Room

Oct 09 2012

WASTEBOOK 2012

COMING: Tuesday October 16, 2012

Washington is set to spend at least $3.6 trillion this year while running a $1.3 trillion deficit. The waste is overflowing and it’s time to take out the trash.

This coming Tuesday, October 16, we’ll be releasing our annual Wastebook 2012 edition.

For the past three years, Dr. Coburn has highlighted some of the year’s most wasteful government spending projects. In 2011, we found over billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars were squandered on a $700,000 grant to study cow burps, robot dragons, and more bridges to nowhere – to name a few. In 2010, the Wastebook highlighted more than $200,000 went to research studying why political candidates make vague statements, $5.2 million was awarded to the Sin City to build the “Neon Boneyard Park and Museum," a park dedicated to displaying neon signs.

What did we find for 2012? Follow Dr. Coburn on Twitter and Facebook this week where we’ll preview what we found.

Check out a complete list of Dr. Coburn's oversight reports, here.



Date Title
10/15/12 Coburn Releases Annual Report Highlighting Some of the Most Wasteful Government Spending in 2012
10/9/12 Current record
10/2/12 Investigative Report Criticizes Counterterrorism Reporting, Waste at State & Local Intelligence Fusion Centers Files
Date Title
9/13/12 Dr. Coburn Releases New Investigative Report on Problems Uncovered in Social Security Disability Program
Date Title
8/30/12 New Report Finds Hundreds of Millions in Overlapping Government Assistance Payments
8/3/12 Coburn, Manchin Offer Bipartisan Bill to Force the Pentagon to Audit its Books
8/2/12 Senates Chooses to Pay for Trade Bill with More Borrowing and Deferred Tax Increases Rather than Eliminating Duplication and Waste
8/2/12 GAO FINDS THOUSANDS OF MEDICAID PROVIDERS WHICH RECEIVED BILLIONS OF TAX DOLLARS ARE TAX CHEATS
8/1/12 Dr. Coburn Hosting Town Hall Meetings Across Oklahoma
8/1/12 Coburn, Hatch Demand Answers on Effectiveness of Multi-Million Dollar Anti-Fraud Initiative at CMS
Date Title
7/24/12 Dr. Coburn Releases New Oversight Report on Job Training Programs in Oklahoma
Date Title
6/27/12 Thousands of Tax Cheats Got Federal Mortgage Assistance or Tax Credits
6/21/12 Senate Says “Party’s Over” For Taxpayer Subsidies for Party Conventions and Subsidies for Wealthy Farmers
6/21/12 Senate Votes to Reduce Crop Insurance Subsidies, Save Taxpayer Dollars
6/21/12 GAO Finds HRSA Failing Taxpayers, Patients, Due to Ineffective Management of Community Health Center Program
6/18/12 Senate Doctors: Utility MACT Kills Jobs, Increases Health Risks
6/14/12 Coburn Releases New Report Exposing the Taxpayer Subsidized Market Access Program (MAP)
6/13/12 The Administration's "Campaign to Cut Waste", One Year Later
6/11/12 Physicians in Congress Release ‘Doctors’ Note’ on Medicare
6/6/12 Coburn Releases New Report on Unspent Federal Dollars
6/6/12 Senators Coburn, Burr Introduce the “Comprehensive Student Loan Protection Act”
6/4/12 Coburn, Mark Udall Introduce Bill to End Taxpayer Subsidies for Party Conventions
Date Title
5/22/12 Bipartisan Group of Senators Calls on GSA to Bolster Efforts to Curb Wasteful Spending
5/18/12 GAO Finds Not All FDA Employees Are Held Accountable for Meeting User Fee Agreement Goals
5/18/12 GAO Report Finds Millions in Federal Grants Money Unspent and Potentially Vulnerable to Waste and Fraud