It seems like every time I think I’ve seen it all when it comes to wasteful government spending, a new example comes along to redefine “ridiculous.”
Have you ever heard of the National Technical Information Service?
It’s a federal agency that gathers “government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business-related information” and sells it to other parts of the federal government.
This sixty-year-old agency is a relic of a world without the internet, back before we could find almost any information we wanted just by clicking “Search.”
Sure enough, the Government Accountability Office has found that 74% of what NTIS sells is already publicly available — for free — on other government websites, accessible by Google.
But taxpayers are still forced to pay $50 million a year to keep the NTIS running.
Of course, this is not new information.
The GAO has been reporting for years that NTIS was a massive waste, and Commerce Secretary William Daley even suggested abolishing it back in 1999.
But it’s still here, still pointless, and still costs $50 million.
Frankly, that sounds crazy. In fact, even though it’s “only” $50 million, it’s hard to think of anything crazier.
But unfortunately, if keeping track of federal waste has taught me anything, it’s to never say never.
NLT President Gary Paumen