Money, Honey

| March 16, 2026 | 3 Comments

I see an old-time government practice is hitting the news. Not that it is unusual, of course, but because this time a Republican did it, and we all know that is just wrong. It does have a somewhat outrageous aspect to it, though.

I refer, of course, to “use it or lose it.”

Congress mandates a ridiculous amount to be spent by a governmental entity. The entity, contrary to expectations, actually spends less than that amount (it actually does happen sometimes) and instead of being praised for being a good and faithful steward of public funds, is repaid by getting lower funding the next year. Hence the use it or lose it, right?

One would think maybe an incentive plan akin to “you help save $X will earn you a bonus of Y% of $X” would be in order…. and in a sane world, it would be. So we don’t.

A newly released analysis of Department of Defense spending shows a staggering $93.4 billion splurge in September 2025, as officials scrambled to exhaust their budget before the fiscal year deadline.

Better quarters? Better messhalls? A few spare missiles? Nope…

Beyond the $6.9 million for lobster, the Pentagon spent:

  • $15.1 million on ribeye steaks
  • $2 million on Alaskan king crab
  • Nearly $140,000 on doughnuts
  • Over $124,000 on ice cream machines

And lest you think food alone was bought

  • $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for an Air Force residence
  • $225 million in furniture, featuring individual chairs costing nearly $1,900
  • $12,540 for fruit basket stands
  • $5.3 million on Apple devicesFox LA

Perhaps I missed the news when a world-class pianist joined the Air Force?  Or when mess halls started routinely serving lobster tails?

The last time the UIOLI was so large was in 2008 (which would be Mr. Bush’s waning years, for those who can’t remember.)

Now, we just had a big fight in Congress over Affordable Care Act tax credits, right? We couldn’t afford ’em was the party line… well, according to Chuckie Schumer this $98 million could have financed that for three years. I doubt his math – but this sure sounds like the kind of thing DOGE was supposed to target.Next time we see how barracks are overrun with mold and bad plumbing, let’s remember what almost $100 million could have done for our troops. And what was done instead. Reminds me of the old Hackworth phrase, “Perfumed Princes”.

“Let them eat cake!”

 

Stealing Ed’s meme

And swinging to the other side of the spectrum – the new Obama refuse bin library is proving to be a huge moneymaker for the Obamistas, especially Iranian-born Valerie Jarrett.

Federal filings viewed by Fox News Digital show Jarrett made $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials have collected six-figure salaries as foundation executives.

Total salaries and benefits at the foundation climbed from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024 as staffing expanded to 337 employees and annual revenue reached nearly $210 million, according to the filings.

One suspects that makes her the highest paid library head around. It is a bit more than your average library, though – the 19 acre campus is projected to cost $850,000,000.

Obama’s habits still run true – while his top aides are raking in some very top-aide salaries, the center says it needs volunteers. As in unpaid.

The new program will have 75 to 100 volunteers, known as “ambassadors,” greet and direct visitors around the campus and share information about exhibits at the 22-story museum tower, athletic center and Chicago Public Library branch, among other amenities. It is expected to expand in the future.  Fox News

Wouldn’t want to pay those folks now, would we. I know, museum docents typically are volunteers, such as at the Holocaust museums.Lot of money going to the higher-ups, though – you would think a little bit would trickle down.

Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Democrats, Pentagon

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A Proud Infidel®™

Will the B. Hussein 0bama trashcan have pictures of him as a boy attending school at the madrassa he went to?

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Sailorcurt
  1. We used to have “surf and turf” meals onboard ship maybe once a month or so while at sea. Sounds better than it is when cooked by a Navy MS using a “Recipe card” which is geared more toward guaranteeing food safety than flavor or texture. Eating a piece of ribeye and a lobster tail might sound like a treat, but when they’re cooked to the consistency of shoe leather and a superball respectively, I’d rather have a slider or roller any day.
  2. There’s more to those massive spending waves toward the end of the fiscal year than just “we’ve got ‘extra’ money we’ve got to spend”. Often, especially when world events are…um…fluid, commands conserve funds through the year in order to ensure they have what they need to function if something happens that increases the pace of operations or mission requirements. Material upgrades, upgraded training equipment, replacement support equipment, even office furniture and building repairs (although that’s typically a different pot of money than the operational budget) are put off just in case those funds are needed later. Then at the end of the year, when the budget is about to be renewed and the risk of needing that rainy day fund stashed is minimal, all those things that were being put off are purchased and accomplished. It’s not always that they’re spending money that otherwise wouldn’t have been spent or didn’t need to be spent, but they’ve been putting off needed things just in case they needed that budget if something more important came along. When that doesn’t manifest in a given year, the money gets spent at the end of the period. I can’t remember how many times we had a broken chair or desk that needed to be replaced but were told “wait till the last month of the fiscal year to order it” and just had to live with it in the interim.
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Andy11M

I remember being a E2 and the end of the federal budget year was coming up, and suddenly we were getting all sorts of parts for our Brads that all summer long I had been told “the unit doesn’t have the money for that”. Then October started and we were right back to “we don’t have money for that”.

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