Just a Tiny Example of Government Waste

By Warner Todd Huston —— Bio and Archives April 23, 2009

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On April 22, the Associated Press published a short report about the fact that the Department of Homeland Security has decided to stop paying for employee subscriptions to newspapers and magazines “to save money.”

Upon reading this, some may initially shake their heads in hearty agreement and congratulate Obama’s DHS for trying to save money. I, on the other hand, see this as a perfect example of a typical waste of the taxpayer’s money, though one finally rectified. After all, what does this cancellation of subscriptions mean? It means government employees were getting FREE personal subscriptions to their favorite entertainment publications… well, free to themselves, anyway. We must realize that we the people have been saddled with the bill all along for who knows how many thousands of magazine and newspaper subscriptions for who knows how many years? No one pays for any of my subscriptions but me. Why should I have to pay for the entertainment of some government perfunctory? If government placemen, jobbers, and seatfillers want subscriptions to their favorite newspaper or magazine, why shouldn’t they pay for the thing themselves? Why should these greedy public employees expect the taxpayers to pay for their luxuries? They already get better retirement plans and health benefits than anyone in the private sector. Are we expected to pay these people’s entertainment costs, too? If the government wants to really save money, how about eliminating useless employees right along with those unnecessary, expensive, and over-indulgent subscriptions. So, if DHS expects a pat on the back for saving money, I say they need a kick in the rear for paying for those subscriptions in the first place!