This year the government paid for silent Shakespeare plays, non-functional dishwashers, and lessons on how to tell the truth

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) at a press conference on &#039;Federal Fumbles.&#039;

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

published 1 December 2015

Following in the annual tradition of former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, current Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford has released a list of 100 "federal fumbles" — questionable and sometimes comical spending decisions made by the government this year.

The football-themed report targets expenses like a silent production of Shakespeare, energy-efficient dishwashers that used so little water they had to run two cycles to work, llama showcasing regulations, and marketing for raisins. Headlining the list is the $43 million spent on a single gas station in Afghanistan, an expenditure which was lambasted in a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in November.

"Cited here are not only prime examples of wasteful spending, but also federal departments or agencies that regulate outside the scope of the federal government's constitutional role," Lankford wrote in the introduction. "I firmly believe my staff and I have the obligation to solve the troubles of our nation, not just complain, which is why for every problem identified, you will also find a recommended solution."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.