Flake Channels ‘The Force’ to Fight Government Waste
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Someone looking for the latest “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” trailer is going to be very confused if they accidentally click on this, but they might learn something new.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is continuing his fight against government waste, continuing a crusade former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., started, but with his own flare.
Flake released “Wastebook: The Farce Awakens” Tuesday, along with a mock movie poster inspired by “Star Wars” that shows him and Coburn wielding lightsabers, surrounded by some cartoon representations of government waste.
Ahead of the release, Flake’s office made public a “Star Wars”-themed mock movie trailer to promote his effort. The book detailed 100 examples of what Flake identified as wasteful spending, which he said amounted to more than $100 billion.
“To see so much money so outlandishly wasted, it’s clear that Washington’s ballyhooing over budget austerity is a farce,” Flake said in a statement. “Hopefully, this report gives Congress — which only ever seems to agree when it comes to spending money — something to Chewie on before the taxpayers strike back.”
Some examples of wasteful spending include a study to train monkeys to run on the treadmill, a study of college students’ pizza addiction, a study about how koozies keep beers cold (which was primarily focused on studying a weather phenomenon), a program to teach robots how to play jazz and a grant that was partially used to design a life-size “Pac-Man” game.
This is the fourth time this year Flake has highlighted government waste, and it’s not the first time he has drawn on movie references to spice up his effort. Flake released his “Jurassic Pork” report in June ahead of the movie franchise’s latest installment.
The man who replaced Coburn in the Senate, Republican James Lankford, released his own waste book last week. He went with a football theme, “Federal Fumbles.”
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