Waste of the Day: Throwback Thursday – Spending on Counterterrorism Sno-Cones
Topline: In the event of a terrorist attack, western Michigan is well prepared with 13 Sno-Cone machines funded by the federal government.
For some reason, the Department of Homeland Security felt it necessary to spend $11,700 on the machines in 2011 to “assist with treating the onset of heat exhaustion and stroke during large scale events or activities including possible terrorist incidents or similar emergencies." The money would be worth $16,800 today.
That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses.
Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname "Dr. No" by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn't stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.
Coburn's Wastebook 2011 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth nearly $7 billion, including the blue raspberry-flavored security measures.
Key facts: The Arctic Blast Sno-Cone makers went to 13 counties for $900 each.
They quickly made national headlines and became one of the most ridiculed examples of government waste from 2011. Late-night host Stephen Colbert even joked, “Al Qaeda’s from the desert. They have no defense against snow, especially in cone form.”
Local officials arguably made the public relations disaster even worse with nonsensical justifications for the purchase.
Montcalm County Emergency Services Director David Feldpausch told the Greenville Daily News, “I don’t like the term ‘snow-cone machine,’ because it sounds horrible. When you look at it as an ice-shaving machine and its purpose, it makes a little more sense.” The machines were labeled with the brand name “Sno-Cone” in large blue letters.
Gary Szotko, chair of western Michigan’s Homeland Security Planning Board, told WOOD TV, "In the event of an emergency where there is great heat for extended period of time, it does provide a means for ice packs for responders, for volunteers to stay hydrated in a different way than bottled water, and it is portable.”
One Michigan county also requested money for a popcorn machine — perhaps to throw the kernels at would-be terrorists? — but that request was denied, according to the Greenville Daily News.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Summary: The only thing the government should be worried about freezing are the bank accounts funding its absurd purchases.
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