Synchronized Swimming By Sea Monkeys Makes Latest Wastebook From Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn

By Chris Casteel, Washington BureauWASHINGTON — Sen. Tom Coburn released his annual compendium of questionable government projects on Wednesday, saying Congress and federal agencies found money to pay idled government workers and study sea monkeys despite large budget deficits and more pressing needs. The 2014 wastebook includes a detailed look at how federal employees collect full paychecks while on so-called administrative leave. And it offers dozens of quick hits on taxpayer-funded studies and other projects that add up to billions of dollars. Coburn, R-Muskogee, is retiring at the end of the current congressional session and leaving as he arrived 10 years ago: with warnings that generations to come will absorb the real impact of frivolous federal spending. “As you read through the entries presented in this report, ask yourself: Is each of these a true national priority or could the money have been better spent on a more urgent need or not spent at all in order to reduce the burden of debt being left to be paid off by our children and grandchildren?” Coburn says in the introduction to his fifth and final wastebook (at least as a U.S.