Follow us on

Saturday, May 18, 2013 | 6:22 a.m.

Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider

Posted: 12:46 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012

A call to cut non-defense military spending 

By Jamie Dupree

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is out with a new report claiming that the Pentagon routinely spends billions each year on programs that have nothing to do with military readiness, arguing that at a time of budget troubles, there's no reason not to cut out what isn't needed.

As I detailed on my Twitter feed (@jamiedupree), the Coburn report details a host of items that may make the average American pound the dashboard in frustration, wondering whether the spending of the federal government can ever be reined in:

* Money from the military went to fund studies about slang used on Twitter and how it could be used to determine where that Twitter user was from is.gd/MaqkOV

* Twelve grants worth $6 million over two years went to research on the science of story telling http://t.co/clvdChIe

* The Navy spent $450,000 to observe the social interactions between a military robot and babies

* The Air Force spent $681,387 on a grant for research that showed a man brandishing a gun looked more powerful than a man without a weapon http://t.co/0JXYqYuJ

You can read Coburn's report - titled, the "Department of Everything" at http://is.gd/9CEiDB

Jamie Dupree

About Jamie Dupree

Jamie Dupree is the Radio News Director of the Washington Bureau of the Cox Media Group and writes the Washington Insider blog.

Connect with Jamie Dupree on:TwitterFacebook

Send Jamie Dupree an email.

 
 
 

© 2013 Sinclair Broadcast Group. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad ChoicesAdChoices.