10. Surfing Subsidy
For the Department of Commerce for giving
the City and County of Honolulu $28,600 in 1981 to study
how they could spend another $250,000 for a good surfing
beach. At the time, even a few Honolulu officials protested
the grant, saying that local life time surfers would
be available as volunteers.
9. Basketball Therapy
For the Health Care Financing Administration
for Medicaid payments to psychiatrists for unscheduled,
coincidental meetings with patients who were attending
basketball games, sitting on stoops, etc. -- the cost
of which was between $40 and $80 million from 1981 to
1984.
8. $2 Million Patrol Car
For the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
for spending $2 million in 1978 on a prototype police
patrol car that was never completed. The car was loaded
with gadgets and would have cost $49,078 each.
7. Tailhook
The Department of the Navy for using
64 planes to fly 1334 officers to the Hilton Hotel in
Las Vegas for a 1974 reunion of the Tailhook Association.
6. Tennis Cheaters
The National Endowment for the Humanities
for a $25,000 grant in 1977 to study why people cheat,
lie and act rudely on local Virginia tennis courts.
5. TV Watching Lessons
The Office of Education for spending
$219,592 in 1978 to develop a curriculum to teach college
students how to watch television.
4. New Jersey Sewer Museum
The Environmental Protection Agency
for spending an extra $1 million to $1.2 million in
1980 to preserve a Trenton, NJ sewer as a historical
monument.
3. How to Buy Worcestershire Sauce
The Department of the Army for spending
$6,000 in 1981 to prepare a 17-page document that told
the federal government how to buy a bottle of Worcestershire
sauce.
2. Great Wall of Bedford, Indiana
The Economic Development Administration
of the Commerce Department for spending $20,000 in 1981
to construct an 800-foot limestone replica of the Great
Wall of China in Bedford, Indiana.
1. Tequila Fish
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism for spending millions of dollars in 1975
to find out if drunken fish are more aggressive than
sober fish, if young rats are more likely than adult
rats to drink booze in order to reduce anxiety, and
if rats can be systematically turned into alcoholics.
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