Robo-squirrel, video game on government pork list

Catalina Camia and Gregory Korte | USATODAY

What do Moroccan pottery classes, robotic squirrels and playing a high school prom video game have in common?

All received government funding in the past year and are being held up as examples of wasteful spending by Sen. Tom Coburn.

The Oklahoma Republican released his fourth (somewhat annual) "Wastebook" on Monday, highlighting what he calls some of the most "egregious" ways taxpayer dollars are being spent. This year's total: More than $18 billion.

"The problem in Washington is politicians are very specific about what we should fund but not specific about what we should cut," Coburn said in a statement. "As a result, we are chasing robotic squirrels and countless other low-priority projects over a fiscal cliff."

The robo-squirrel project received $325,000 from the National Science Foundation. The University of California at Davis and San Diego State University spent some of its taxpayer dollars to get a robotic squirrel to fake out a rattlesnake.

The pottery classes for Moroccans was part of a $27 million grant from U.S. Agency for International Development, its inspector general reported.

The prom video game received $516,000 through the National Science Foundation for what its creator called "a new and powerful mode of personal expression." Video games are a popular target: Coburn also took aim at "Walden," a video game based on the works of Henry David Thoreau ($40,000) and another study that found senior citizens saw no cognitive improvement after playing "World of Warcraft" for two hours a day ($1.2 million).

The 202-page report -- with 1.083 footnotes -- comes mostly through newspaper articles and government reports.

Coburn doesn't spare the home-state pork.

One project he highlighted is the Lake Murray State Park Airport in Carter, Okla. The airport gets one flight a month, yet receives an automatic $150,000 a year from the Federal Aviation Administration -- money the state mostly shifts to other projects. Coburn calls it a "layover boondoggle" and suggests the airport exists only to "land federal funds."