The second list targets federal government waste. One of the sections deals with redundant programs. Turns out there are 12 food safety agencies, 40 separate employment and training programs, 50 homeless assistance programs, 130 programs for at-risk youth, and 342 economic development programs. Why all the waste?
One reason is that [lawmakers] see [reducing waste] as a thankless job that would go unnoticed back home. With Congress in session just 80 days annually, reducing waste would take precious time away from most lawmakers’ higher priorities of increasing spending on popular programs and bringing pork-barrel projects home. A second reason is that some of the most wasteful programs are also the most popular (e.g., Medicare), and lawmakers fear that opponents would portray them as “attacking” popular programs. Consequently, waste and inefficiencies continue to build up, costing taxpayers more while providing beneficiaries with less.