A $2.7 MILLION malware problem

From the same government that can read the worlds emails and land an SUV on other planets, we have a situation that led to a total expenditure of over $2.7 MILLION to rid a few machines of malware.

Yes. That's right. Malware.

And, to be clear, they didn't rid the machines of malware. No. They rid the machines. Period. $175,000 worth of equipment such as mice, keyboards, monitors and cameras were destroyed because they had malware.

Yes, they paid a contractor over $820,000 to get rid of malware. This contractor was UNABLE to rid the system of malware. Money well spent! Classy contractin'.
I suspect it was the same contractor they gave the $688,000 to to come up with a better solution after their first one didn't work.

Worst part? The ONLY reason they stopped destroying equipment at $175,000? BECAUSE THEY RAN OUT OF MONEY! Their plan, was to continue destroying equipment as soon as they had money again.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.
read more: Government Destroys $170k of Hardware in Absurd Effort to Stop Malware(giz)

Salaries

That's a lot of cops!

$4.2 MILLION for some fine policing

'Cause, you know... Shoot first ask questions later.

THIS is whycalifornianspaytaxes.
read more:
Women's settlement with LAPD in Dorner case worth $4.2 million(LAT)

Tanks a million!

Was looking for the recent Daily Show clip of Al Madrigal doing a bit on a piece of legislation that is being forced through congress to buy more tanks, even though the Pentagon doesn't want them. It was a Facebook post, but when I saw the first comment at thedailyshow.com, I just HAD to share a fantastic image exemplifying wasteful government practices...

Root around this Google Maps' satellite imaged area for awhile. This is all the crap our military doesn't even know what to do with:

https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.201201,-120.135406&spn=0.000892,0.002064&t=h&z=20

The clip from The Daily Show I was looking for. Gives some good context to the overall story.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-7-2013/tanks--but-no-tanks

Building tanks to put directly into storage...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

You had ONE job!

And that job was to KEEP THE DAMN BOAT IN THE WATER!

I honestly would expect that by now, the U.S. Navy ought to be able to muddle around without running into 10 meters of a UNESCO world heritage coral reef. They're stuck so bad they had to abandon ship!

Navy's not alone though and they're in good company. Greenpeace took a run at the same reef in 2005 and racked up a $7,000 fine.

On the plus side, this gives the Navy something to do...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

read more: All crew leave U.S. Navy ship stuck in Philippines (USAT)

Its no wonder Senate can't get anything done

Mitch "Goin' Nowhere, Slow" McConnell, sorry, Senator Goin' Nowhere, Slow McConnell has really demonstrated some of the solid legistlatin' their getting done up in the Senate by filibustering a bill he brought before the Senate.

Yes. That's right.

Mitch proposed they vote on a bill he had written.

Apparently, being a Senator is all the qualification you need to have the Senate vote on a bill, so they decided to have a vote on Mitch's bill. Nice group, these Senators. Very cordial.

"Now hold on just a minute here," squealed Mitch. "We can't vote on this!"

Yup. The Senate has become little more than a forum where a single befuddled white man can bring the progress of this great nation to a screeching halt while he takes center stage to mutter aimlessly to himself about how great his ideas are, if only they didn't suck.

Seriously, if your elderly parent were acting in this way, you'd immediately start thinking about the options for  professional care. Imagine. Your mother excitedly runs around the house and gathers everyone in the the living room. Once everyone is gathered around, she says "I think we should take a trip to Acapulco " You slowly say, "Okaayyy... Let's talk about that." To which she responds, "What, are you stupid? I think its a terrible idea! The bugs this time of year are terrible!" 

So, there you go. Fuck fixing this country. Lets just watch a confused douche bag argue with himself. That's what we'll do with our time. Right on.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Read more: Urgent case for Senate reform; McConnell even filibustered himself(LHL)

Interesting Math Problem

$182 BILLION of your tax dollars goes to AIG, cause we couldn't let THEM fail. After all, our government's friends in the banking and insurance industries couldn't possibly be left on the hook for the bets they placed. Somebody had to bail them out, why not you and me?

$23.3 BILLION has been recuperated so far by selling it back.
$158.7 BILLION is what we are still owed.
$30 BILLION is the value of what we still have.

$128.7 BILLION is ... well, I guess I don't have an answer. Where is it? Who'd we give it to? Why the fuck did we throw $130 BILLION into a fucking sink hole?

Fear not, my friends, for our government's pals at AIG have turned that baby around and made it profitable once again. They're expected to haul in about $7.4 BILLION in free and clear profit. So... Now that they're profitable... NOW is the time we're going to give up our controlling interest? The fuck?

Meanwhile, the CEO, Robert "Math Whiz" Benmosche has the fucking audacity to claim they will pay our government back "plus a profit." Maybe I'm not that good at subtraction, and I am certain there is a lot going on that I don't understand, but he should probably shut his fucking pie hole and stop pretending like he's doing us some sort of a fucking favor.

Pardon my French there. Its just that I'm a little pissed off is all...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.
read more: Treasury to Cut AIG Stake Below Half in $18B Sale(abc)