Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) praised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for exposing more than $27 billion in wasteful federal spending. This long and expensive list was published in the latest installment of his “America’s Most Wasted” series on wasteful government spending.

Sen. McCain’s report includes numerous items that CAGW has long crusaded against, including $11 billion in Social Security Disability Insurance overpayments, $1.5 billion in unemployment insurance fraud, $1.3 billion in cost overruns on Aurora, Colorado’s VA hospital, $1 billion squandered on failed Obamacare CO-OPs, $1 billion in annual losses by Amtrak, and $150 million lost annually by printing dollar bills instead of minting a dollar coin.

Also included in the report were expenditures that make taxpayers laugh, cry, and cringe. Bizarre projects included $1.25 million for a Las Vegas nail and hair salon, $100,000 for a flower show, $75,000 for an opera premiere, the infamous $15,000 EPA shower monitoring scheme, and $12,000 for a Japanese climate comic book.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “We applaud Sen. McCain for his continued work to bring government waste issues to light. The report reveals the wasteful habits of Washington in a way taxpayers can easily understand. Indeed, every taxpayer should read this report and be outraged at the absurd ways our leaders spend tax dollars.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.