Wednesday, April 7, 2010 as of 11:14 AM ET
The United States is deep in debt.
And while there are many reasons, Washington's lack of self control is certainly one of them.Each week, Tracking Your Taxes exposes Congressional appropriations most taxpayers consider wasteful but that lawmakers claim are essential. This week we've compiled a list of projects that have received tens of millions of dollars -- and in one case nearly $2 billion -- but never got off the ground.For perspective, we went back more than a decade to examine some of of the bigger ideas out of Capitol Hill and how much they ultimately cost. Judge for yourself: Did you get your money's worth?There was the $50 million Congress handed out in 2004 for an indoor rainforest in Iowa at the behest of Republican Sen. Charles Grassley , a self-described fiscal conservative. As the local newspaper in Coralville joked, for that much money, "we could send the whole town on a rainforest vacation."- Video: click here.Tom Schatz, president of the taxpayer watchdog group Citize...If you want money from Congress, consider these two magic words: terrorism and disaster.As the nation commemorates the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terr...
Lawmakers in Washington are calling on the National Institutes of Health to explain why millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on seemingly ridiculous research...
The U.S. is expected to spend about $36.7 billion on its foreign aid budget next year, but large chunks of that money will be going to countries whose leaders openly...
To critics, the Essential Air Service is classic Washington pork. Created to last 10 years, the program that guarantees air service to small towns is now 31-years-ol...
The Congressional Budget Office and the White House Office of Management and Budget say billions are being wasted on projects that are not needed or duplicative -- a...
In the next 16 days, Congress will spend more than $3 trillion in taxpayer money. To cover these programs, some Americans will be working up to three hours of each d...
Talk about money running through your fingers.It's no surprise that many Americans -- who see tax dollars spent for waste and ineffective programs -- feel as though ...
As the national conversation turns to multi-trillion dollar deficits and the towering costs of health care and climate change legislation, some in Washington are try...
Many Americans hit hard by the recession have been trading their annual family getaways for summer "stay-cations." But the economy apparently has done little to grou...
If you own a phone, you're paying for the fastest growing welfare program in the U.S.: free cell phones for low-income Americans.The program, which is paid for throu...
President Obama pledged in August to cut all pork barrel projects from defense spending, threatening to veto any swollen bills that came across his desk -- a pledge ...
People in many states are bracing for increased prices on everything from soda to hairstyling
IRS goes high-tech with new smart phone application
Members of Congress defend earmarks as federal funds they need for projects that will help their local districts.But the taxpayers' money goes to such projects as fi...
From wheelchairs and walkers to orthopedic shoes and needles, Medicare buys tens of thousands of products every day for elderly Americans. And as the single largest ...
After 30 years, five presidents and $13 billion dollars, the Obama administration is pulling the plug on Yucca Mountain , the federal government's proposed storage f...
The U.S. government hands out millions of dollars each year to various environmental organizations to help protect fish, wildlife and other aspects of the environmen...
Looking for a great recipe for pork? Some states with small populations are getting hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks as veteran legislators carry back mas...
As if the life of a college professor weren't easy enough, millions of taxpayer dollars are going to fund monthlong vacations for sightseeing scholars in Europe and ...
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