WASTEFUL

I hope you saw the report by Sen. Tom Coburn about the money wasted by the government this year. It seems to me that our representatives don’t have the same values and considerations that we have. As you read this partial list, I’m sure you’ll agree that our representatives spend our money in ways that we wouldn’t even consider. Far too many votes are cast in Washington in order to procure blocks of votes and political contributions. It seems that common sense and judicial spending is a low priority. It further seems that it is presumptuous of them to be called “representatives.” I’m not sure who they are representing when they spend like this.

• $75,000 to promote awareness about the role Michigan plays in producing Christmas trees & poinsettias.

• $15.3 million for one of the infamous Bridges to Nowhere in Alaska.

• $113,227 for video game preservation center in New York.

• $550,000 for a documentary about how rock music contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• $48,700 for 2nd annual Hawaii Chocolate Festival, to promote Hawaii's chocolate industry.

• $350,000 to support an International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.

• $10 million for a remake of "Sesame Street" for Pakistan.

• $35 million allocated for political party conventions in 2012.

• $765,828 to subsidize "pancakes for yuppies" in the nation's capital.

• $764,825 to study how college students use mobile devices for social networking.