Wasteful spending

I Was watching Meet the Press this morning. Once again, as usual, they were discussing economics. It brought up a thought in my mind about wasteful spending. The wasteful spending specifically of tax payer dollars by the government. I checked out some info on the subject, and I cannot insure the credibility of the source, but, i read it anyway. Here were some , but not all, of the examples of wasteful government spending that I read:

.-The Federal Government cannot account for $24.5 billion spent in 2003
.-A White house review of jusr a sample of the Federal budget identified $90
billion spent on programs deemed that were either ineffective, marginally
adequate, or operating under a flawed purpose or design.
.-The Federal Government spends $23 billion annually on special interest
pork projects such as grants to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or funds
to combat teenage "goth" culture in Blue springs. Mo. (I find that one to be suspect simply for its absurdity, but, continuing on,,
.-Washington spends tens of billions of dollars on failed and outdated
programs such as the rural utilities service, US Geological Survey, and the
and the Economic Development Association.
.-The Dept. Of housing and Urban Development's $3.3 billion in
overpayments in 2001 accounted for over 10% of the departments total
budget.
.-Heres another one I find to be suspect. Over one eighteen month period
Air force and Navy personel used government funded credit cards to
charge at least $102,400.00 for admission to entertainment events,
$48,250.00 for gambling, $69,300.00 for cruises, and $73,950.00for
exotic dance clubs and prostitues. Again, this one should be scrutinized.
.-The advanced technology program spends $150 million annually
subsidizing private business, and %40 of this goes to Fortune 500
companies.
.-The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets
and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were
reimbursable.
.-The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers $2 billion annually to
"not" farm their land. (I do remember hearing that once.)
.-The Department of Agriculture spends $12 billion to $30 billion annually
on farm subsidies , the vast majority of which goes to "hobby farmers"
such as David Rockefeller, Ted Turner, Scottie Pippen and former Enron
CEO Ken Lay.
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Again, I do not know how much of this is accurate. Just something I read.

If it is the case though, our government is guilty of very poor business practices. While we tend to lay all of the blame on corporate America for todays economic ills, maybe we are not addressing the wasteful spending of our government as well.

There seems to be an inclination of the masses or, the common folks, to enter into a new frugality of sorts. To spend less on new things and find alternative ways to provide the basic needs, and to be content on what they do have. Less inclined to buy a new vehicle or, a new home etc,etc,etc,. This new frugality, will eventually have a far reaching effect on our economy as a whole. Home builders, The automotive industry, grocery stores, etc, etc, etc. How about a new frugality in government? If this is, as I was always taught, a government by the people and for the people, how about a little collective responsibilty on the part of government to spend "our" money wisely? It is our money you know, in case anyone forgot. I have no problem with paying taxes, as long as the money is spent wisely. What are wise ways to spend tax payer dollars? I don't know. Maybe others have an opinion. Thanks for listening.