Had the American people seen just how fast-and-loose government employees were playing with taxpayer dollars, the media-driven sob fest concerning the dire plight of some of those employees may have been entirely different and many Americans just may have demanded these workers to stay home for good.

A new analysis released by OpenTheBooks.com found 66 agencies spent $97 billion last September, the final month of fiscal year 2018. The end of the year taxpayer-funded spending spree included contracts with Coors, millions on iPhones, furniture, and CrossFit equipment.

“In the final month of the fiscal year, federal agencies scramble to spend what’s left in their annual budget,” OpenTheBooks.com said. “Agencies worry spending less than their budget allows might prompt Congress to appropriate less money in the next fiscal year. To avoid this, federal agencies choose to embark on an annual shopping spree rather than admit they can operate on less.”
— Washington Free Beacon, 3/7/19

Just a hint of why so many of the #Shutdown workers paraded in front of our televisions looked like they could afford to miss a meal or two and why so many supposedly had little to no food: the American taxpayer was feeding too many on the job!

Resulting government expenditures included $4.6 million on lobster tail and crab; $673,471 on golf carts; $1.7 million on pianos, tubas, and trombones; $9.8 million on workout and recreation equipment; and $7.7 million iPhones and iPads.

A Wexford Leather club chair cost taxpayers $9,241. The government spent $293,245 on rib eye, top sirloin, and flank steak.

The federal government spent $2.1 million on games, toys, and wheeled goods, $490.6 million on furniture, and $62.1 million on household furnishings. Bureaucrats spent $1.1 million on standing desks, as well as $2.7 million on ergonomic chairs, $643,833 on sofas, and $40,379 on clocks.

Again, emphasis on prime “food”… and booze.

Agencies spent $402 million on food, including the Pentagon, which spent $2.3 million on snow crab, Alaskan king crab, and crab legs, and $2.3 million on lobster tail. The Pentagon and Department of State spent $308,994 on alcohol, including a $76,173 contract with Coors Brewing Company.

The total $97 billion spent in September 2018 amounts to a 16 percent increase from the previous year. Similarly, last year’s end of the budget spending binge included millions spent on cars, scooters, fidget spinners, and shuffleboards.

It appears government employee performance can be inspired when they personally benefit.

“In the final seven days of the fiscal year, agencies ramped up their spending to a total $53 billion—that’s more than they spent in the entire month of August,” OpenTheBooks.com said.

So, the next time you’re told how much we should empathize with federal government employees, remember their blatant disrespect for your hard-earned, confiscated tax dollar, especially when they indifferently overindulge at our expense.