U.S. government spends $1 billion a year telling you how good of a job it’s doing

The government is spending your money to tell you how good of a job it’s doing.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that federal agencies spend approximately $1 billion each year on advertising and public relations contracts.

Interestingly enough, the government has spent an extra $430 million for 5,000 federal public relations employees’ salaries. The PR offers earned a median of $90,000 in 2014.

Not every single federal agency was complicit in this waste of tax dollars. The spending was concentrated on a few agencies, with the Department of Defense (DOD) accounting for 60 percent of the contract obligations. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) spent the largest percentage of its budget on PR stunts.

“For example, 10 agencies were responsible for about 95 percent of obligations on these contracts over fiscal years 2006 through 2015. In contrast, 10 agencies were responsible for about 82 percent of total public relations employee salaries over fiscal years 2006 through 2014,” the report stated.

“With the increased popularity and accessibility of expanded media platforms, the federal government’s ability to publicize information has changed rapidly, but the total scope of federal public relations activities is largely unknown.”

Here is a chart from the GAO:

It’s likely that government officials would approve of this waste because, well, it’s creating jobs…