Topline: Zoo animals are often admired for their beauty or ferociousness. Eloquence is not typically the first word that comes to mind.
Yet in 2010, the federal government spent nearly $1 million — $1.4 million in today’s money — to place signs with excerpts of poetry in zoos around the country.
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 2010 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth more than $11.5 billion, including the money spent adding poetry to the zoo.
Key facts: Five zoos in Chicago, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, Fla. and Little Rock, Ark. were chosen for the “Language of Conservation” program by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, taking inspiration from a similar initiative at New York’s Central Park.
Poets House, the nonprofit that organized the program, said the poems were necessary to “celebrate the natural world and the connection between species.” Not an unrealistic goal, but perhaps the money could have more directly supported wildlife.
The Little Rock Zoo was able to install 50 signs with poems for just $31,000, making it unclear why the remaining zoos needed to spend so much money to accomplish a similar goal.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Supporting quote: A “survey will gauge whether or not this has had any effect on attitudes and whether or not someone has learned,” Susan Altrui, a spokeswoman for the Little Rock Zoo told Arkansas Online at the time.
“If we’re not doing something that encourages learning, then why are we spending the money on it? Having that measurement tool is important when you have a federal grant. We want that measurement tool also to make sure that what we’re doing is effective.”
Summary: It’s said that an elephant never forgets, but human taxpayers are also unlikely to forget the $1 million wasted on zoo poetry.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
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