Growls

The Washington Times is reporting today that the National Science Foundation has mismanaged $3 billion for things such as "testing shrimp's exercise ability on a treadmill" and for "Jell-O wrestling at the South Pole," based on an oversight report released by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma). In response, the Times reports, "An NSF spokeswoman said agency officials have a 'gold-standard spproach to peer review' for the projects they spend money on."

The Washington Times' Stephen Dinan did go on to say that Sen. Tom Coburn's "report makes clear that the agency itself cracked down on some of the problems, including firing the organizer of the South Pole Jell-O wrestling event."

The press release from Sen. Coburn's office also shows:

"Examples of the more than $3 billion in waste and duplication outlined in the report include:

• $80,000 study on why the same teams always dominate March Madness;
• $315,000 study suggesting playing FarmVille on Facebook helps adults develop and maintain relationships;
• $1 million for an analysis of how quickly parents respond to trendy baby names;
• $50,000 to produce and publicize amateur songs about science, including a rap called “Money 4 Drugz,” and a misleading song titled “Biogas is a Gas, Gas, Gas”;
• $2 million to figure out that people who often post pictures on the internet from the same location at the same time are usually friends; and
• $581,000 on whether online dating site users are racist.

"Additionally, the report details examples of mismanagement including:

• Hundreds of millions of dollars lost to ineffective contracting;
• $1.7 billion in unspent funds sitting in expired, undisbursed grant accounts;
• At least $3 million in excessive travel funds
• A lack of accountability or program metrics to evaluate expenditures.
• Inappropriate staff behavior including porn surfing and Jello wrestling and skinny-dipping at NSF-operated facilities in Antarctica.

"The report also identifies duplication between NSF and other departments and agencies. NSF is one of at least 15 federal departments, 72 sub-agencies, and 12 independent agencies engaged in federal research and development."

How many other instances of $1.7 billion in "unspent funds sitting in expired" accounts are there? And the dunderheads on Capitol Hill can't stop the spending? How do they keep getting reelected? And for the NSF spokeswoman, she needs to look at who pays her salary? The last time I looked, it was America's taxpayers.