Inside DC's spending wasteland

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," April 4, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: For weeks right here on this program, we have exposed countless examples about how the Obama administration blatantly -- I mean blatantly -- just wastes your hard earned tax dollars. Lavish White House parties and numerous luxury vacations that the first family and the Bidens have been going on since the beginning of the year. Now, the list goes on and on.

Now, just yesterday President Obama jetted all the way across the country on Air Force One all on your dime trying to raise money at fundraisers. Why? To help push through his radical agenda and of course get Nancy Pelosi elected speaker in 2014.

Now tonight we're going beyond all that, because we're going to expose how all of that money can be considered chump change when it comes to how much of your cash is really being wasted in Washington, D.C.

For example, did you know that your paycheck was hit in order to fund a study on how to use condoms correctly? I don't make this up. An Indiana university, they received that money as part of a stimulus grant and it cost you over $423,000. Oh, and surprisingly, it created zero jobs.

And also thanks to generous donation to the federal government, you helped bankroll a Yale University study on the evolution of duck genitalia. The price tag for taxpayers -- over $384,000. But why stop there? Let's keep going.

Did you ever wonder what animals are thinking? I hope you are because you're paying to find out the answer. Now, CNS News points out that the National Science Foundation has generously given over $2 million to ask that question. It's called wild minds. Remember Smoky the Bear? Well, the Department of Agriculture, they doled out almost 31 grand on balloons shaped like his face at various festivals. How nice of them.

And joining me now with reaction, from The Daily Caller and the co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," Tucker Carlson, and former congressman, Fox News contributor Dennis Kucinich.

You know, Dennis, this goes back to the sequester, all the scare tactics this doom and gloom, even though we'll spend more money this year. And I hear this, this is all a crock. You know, I've been doing government waste and monitoring it since I've gotten into this business in 1987. It never goes away, does it?

DENNIS KUCINICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, it doesn't. You could start with some of the wars we fought that were unnecessary. Trillions of dollars. If you look at inspector general's report, you'll see that there is a litany of amount of money that's wasted in endeavors that we try to work in other countries. We ought to start taking care of things back here and your focus on waste, fraud and abuse, very important.

HANNITY: Yes. Don't we really need to know about duck genitalia, Tucker Carlson?

KUCINICH: Wait a minute. You know, go ahead.

TUCKER CARLSON, THE DAILY CALLER: I know more than I want to know already.

HANNITY: It makes me think, wow, that's great use of my money.

CARLSON: Well, imagine spending half a million dollars to teach people how it use condoms correctly. If you don't know how to use a condom, there is nothing the federal government can do to help you. You are beyond help.

HANNITY: Maybe we need a government nurse to be hired, on call, available.

CARLSON: We have one, it's called the surgeon general of the United States. And he's happy to (INAUDIBLE) you.

HANNITY: No, no, no. He'll actually come to your house and help you.

CARLSON: If only ObamaCare provided for that, maybe it will.

HANNITY: Yes. Well, I mean, do we really need $30,000 to study a federal -- a federal study aimed to increase the intake of tap water among Latino youth? Congressman, why don't we get to the bottom of this at a time when we now have one in five American children as we pointed out last night in poverty?

KUCINICH: Well, we also have a great number of American children that are suffering from childhood obesity. That's a serious matter. And it is tied in part to increased intake of sugary drinks. So that's a serious issue. But the study may not actually hit the mark. Likewise, the study about what animals think. Look, I think I have an idea what animals might think. They're probably thinking, don't eat me.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: Well, I think that's probably true. But what do you think about -- don't you want to know about duck genitalia? Don't you think that's great use -- by the way, Yale University, does it not have huge endowments and the ability to fund such important research by themselves?

CARLSON: Look, it's beyond -- can I make the obvious point, which it's not just about the money, that's infuriating, especially since it's tax season. Some of us will be paying up fairly soon. But it's the idea that the government has a right to inject itself into the most personal decisions in your life. Why is the government concerning itself with what sort of water Latino youth drink? It's not their business. So, it's also not their business whether people use condoms or not. I mean, if you can't make private decisions like that, then what decisions can you make?

KUCINICH: Look, I'm all with you with the government intervening and interfering in private decisions that people make. You know, government ought to stay out of people's private lives. But let me just point something to you. This consumption of sugary drinks, this is serious matter. You know, right now with the supplementary nutrition program, you know, we still permit the consumption of those kinds of drinks and it's paid for by the taxpayers instead of trying to encourage more healthy choices. I mean, that's the kind of thing we ought to be thinking about.

HANNITY: Can I just say, do we really want the government, Congressman -- for example, our government is part of our list here, $2.4 million to improve the TV diet of preschool children. I'm like, really? Do you really want the government telling people what they can and cannot eat, how much -- you can't get a 32-ounce coke in certain places now in New York because the nanny mayor of New York won't let that happen. You have to ask for salt if you want salt at a restaurant.

KUCINICH: Well, let me share my experience with you on this. I mean, I changed my diet 18 years ago, I became a vegan. I've been healthier ever since. I didn't do that with the help of the government. I made my own decision. People have to take responsibility for their own health, up to a certain point.

HANNITY: The government didn't force you to do it, they didn't staple your stomach shut? And you see, because I just finished my diet and I was on the Atkins diet and I'm only eating meat. And I lost 15 pounds.

CARLSON: I demand fair time here. I haven't eaten a vegetable since 1983. I eat almost exclusively meat but also cheese. And I feel I'm on the anti-vegan diet and I am filled with vim, vigor and enthusiasm. I wake up each morning ready to tame the day and make it my own, and I credit my anti-vegan diet. I'm not attacking veganism. I am really saying there is another way.

HANNITY: May I ask why you don't like vegetables?

KUCINICH: Fair and balanced.

HANNITY: Why don't you like vegetables, Tucker? What's wrong with you?

CARLSON: Because in 1983, I left home and I no longer had to eat them, so I no longer did.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: I think you were traumatized.

KUCINICH: Poor Tucker.

CARLSON: Yes, I was.

HANNITY: All right. But here is my point, Congressman. This is the serious point. We're going to shut the White House to kids and tours and the Obamas and Bidens, they're not going to have any skin in the game and they're not going to pay their fair share and they are going to vacation as lavishly as they do. And Justin Timberlake and Adele and Beyonce and everybody else that's singing at the White House and he's going to play 120 rounds of golf. I don't really want to -- and we're going to spend more money this year than last.

I don't want to hear from the government that anything is going to be cut until they do their job and stop mismanaging our money, because we're borrowing a big percentage of this too which we haven't brought up yet. And that is from future generations, we are robbing them blind.

KUCINICH: Well, that's a lot there. Let me just deconstruct it very quickly. Number one, it's my understanding that the administration must reimburse the taxpayers for any trips that have a political nature. That's what I understand. Number two, you're right with respect to an example that has to be set. We can't ask the people of this country to have to even forego visits to the White House if we see examples of where money is wasted.

So, you know, we have to encourage the White House to be more mindful of the optics of conduct where money might be spent in one area and you're telling the public that you're going to have to tighten the belt in other areas.

HANNITY: All right. Thank you both for being with us. Important. We'll never get o a balanced budget until every congressman and senator stops this corrupt system that they're running. Thank you both.

Content and Programming Copyright 2013 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2013 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.