10 More Ways the Government Wastes Your Money
Photo by chapstickaddict
3. $3.5 million spent on keeping some kids cool over the summer
Water cannons, lazy rivers and water slides are all part of one federal program’s efforts to help overheated kids stay cool during the summer.
Taxpayers have shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past year to install water playgrounds, known as “splashpads” and “spray parks,” all around the country. At least five were constructed in New Jersey, Nebraska, Alabama, and Massachusetts, with nearly $3.5 million in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. CDBG funding is intended to provide “decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.
In Carbondale, Illinois, a $2.5 million federal grant provided through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded Carbondale for the “Super Splash Park Outdoor Aquatic Center.” Proponents of the Carbondale project hail it as an opportunity to “expand recreational and economic opportunities in the region,” which will include a $700,000 lap pool, $700,000 for a “leisure pool”, $350,000 for water slides and a $1.2 million lazy river.
