Oklahoma Colleges Spent $83 Million On DEI

December 18, 2023

Public universities in Oklahoma have spent at least $83.4 million on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and personnel in the last decade, according to estimates released by state higher-education entities.

Proponents of DEI programs tout them as a way for people from divergent backgrounds to get along, but in practice some have been associated with discriminatory concepts and practices that have prompted civil rights complaints and lawsuits, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs found.

 

 

With $832 Billion Budget, Pentagon Fails Sixth Consecutive Audit

December 19, 2023

The Department of Defense has a $832 billion annual budget but it hasn’t passed a financial audit for six years in a row, Reason Magazine reported.

DOD Office of the Inspector General and independent accounting firms look through the department's finances, subdividing it into 29 components. Of those 29 components, only seven passed inspection with a "clean" audit, Reason reported.

 

 

Florida Prison Officials Got $3.6 Million for Their Roof Repairs, Nothing For Inmates

December 20, 2023

Prison officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ FCI Tallahassee applied for and received $3.6 million to repair the roofs of its administrative office buildings but sought nothing for the leaky roofs covering inmates’ cells, a report from the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found.

DOJ inspections of the prison found “alarming conditions of its food service and storage operations.  Specifically, on our second day at the institution, we observed inmates being served moldy bread and vegetables rotting in a refrigerator in a food preparation area at the female prison.”

 

 

GSA Seeks Unnecessary, Vacant Buildings

December 21, 2023

Throwback Thursday! 

In 1976, the General Services Administration spent $1.5 million – $8.1 million in 2023 dollars – to try to renovate an old train station in Nashville, Tennessee that it didn’t need.

For this wasteful spending, Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, gave the GSA a Golden Fleece Award in 1983. He gave awards to wasteful and nonsensical spending, eventually handing out 168 Golden Fleece Awards between 1975 and 1988.

 

 

Duplicative Federal Commissions Waste $287 Million Annually

December 22, 2023

If the federal government eliminated several duplicative regional commissions and authorities, it would save taxpayers $287 million annually, the Citizens Against Government Waste found.

In its annual report “Prime Cuts” 2023, is a list of recommendations to reduce the record national debt. The organization suggests eliminating regional development agencies, including the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Delta Regional Authority, the Denali Commission, and the Northern Border Regional Commission.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.