Why is Tom Coburn upset that Congress only passed 62 laws?

In Washington, you hardly hear of Republicans or Democrats making repeals of legislation.  Even at the state or local levels, legislators rarely repeal bills.  Instead, they like to introduce new laws and regulations that make everyone’s life even more difficult than it already is.

Yesterday, I reported on Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn’s Waste Book 2012.  In the report, he cites Congress as the biggest waste of money; it cost taxpayers more than $130 million to run congress and it was the least productive since the late 1940s.  He notes that it was a waste of money because it only passed a few dozen pieces of legislation.

When I was reporting on the piece of news, I was shocked that Coburn was upset over this.  I thought Republicans were for limited government and not Washington intervening in the lives of its citizens on a regular basis.  Unfortunately, it’s all talk for the GOP.

Here are some other items of wasted money:

– $91 million worth of tax loopholes for the Professional Golfers’ Association, National Football League and the National Hockey League

– A $516,000 video game called “Prom Week” that allows taxpayers to relive prom night

– “RoboSquirrel,” a robotic squirrel that scientists are creating to test if rattlesnakes would eat it – this is part of a $325,000 grant to the National Science Foundation

– $505,000 for specialty shampoo promotions marketed toward cats and dogs

– $1.3 million corporate welfare for PepsiCo Inc.

– Moroccan pottery classes as part of a $27 million grant to the U.S. Agency for International Development

– $300,000 initiative to promote caviar consumption and production

For the complete report and article click here and here.