While Congress was wrangling in December over how many billions to trim from future budgets, Washington bureaucrats were spending like teenagers with

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[h=1]Justice Department to spend $544,000 on a new LinkedIn profile: Raft of astonishing new government contracts revealed
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• A federal government contract issued in December provides $284,000 on shipping boxes for FRUIT FLIES
• The EPA will pay a firm $11 million to publish a journal, despite its social media slogan 'more awesome, less suck'
• The VA is shelling out $450,000 on valet parking at a California hospital
• The Navy Department is spending $498,000 on specialized lamps and $409,000 on porta-potties
• The agency that prints U.S. currency has agreed to spend $791,000 to haul away trash and recyclables in Fort Worth, Texas

 

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The DOJ Criminal Division will soon have a new LinkedIn page complete with an easier way to attract job-seekers -- who could presumably find USAjobs.gov if they were motivated

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Anchors aweigh! Marines will be able to go anywhere -- literally -- now that the government has requisitioned an expensive set of porta-potties

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'More awesome, less suck' -- the firm contracted to publish the government's flagship environmental science journal is a specialist in social media targeting female consumers

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Did you know the federal government operates a fruit fly production facility in Hawaii? Now you do

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Your 284,000 tax dollars at work: It's reassuring to know that fruit flies are shipped in boxes labelled 'live insects,' judging from this customized cardboard box

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When the Department of Labor's copiers go on the fritz, they don't have anyone in-house who can fix them -- so here come the contractors!

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Which lamps will the Department of the Navy buy? The $498,000 purchase order doesn't say

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Arrive for that x-ray in style: The Veterans Affairs Department will shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for valet parking attendants at California hospitals

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How much does a recruitment ad on LinkedIn cost? Don't ask the Justice Department -- it appears to think they're free

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Federal prisoners are eating off of these disposable and biodegradable food trays -- instead of something that can be washed and reused -- judging from one 68,000 contract

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