Senator Coburn: U.S. Government Wasting Money Funding Games, Robot Dragons

You know, you’d think after proving they have a bad tendency of being out of touch and technologically illiterate with that whole SOPA thing, U.S. Political figures might try to work on not coming off as dinosaurs. U.S. Senator Tom Coburn is running the whole angle into the ground, claiming video game funding is ‘outlandish.’

“Video games, robot dragons, Christmas trees, and magic museums. This is not a Christmas wish list, these are just some of the ways the federal government spent your tax dollars,” Coburn said in his report on wasteful government spending.

“Over the past 12 months, politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government’s out of control spending. All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not absolutely need. Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $US2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt, which now exceeds $US15 trillion.”

Wait. Hold on one second. Robot dragons? The U.S. government is apparently funding the production of robot dragons and this guy is worried about government spending? Maybe he should be a little more concerned about why the U.S. government needs robot dragons before tackling them in the budget.

Robot dragons aside (seriously, what the hell?), one of the things that Coburn is likely referencing is The International centre for the History of Electronic Games, which received more than $US100,000 in federal fund for video game preservation. These guys basically archive a 23,000 piece collection of gaming software and hardware, which is pretty neat.

While in a time of economic struggle for many, I can see how this could upset some, others likely see it as a cultural preservation effort no different to archiving books, music or art. In comparison with some of the other ways the government spends their money, however, it seems a lot less silly than robot dragons.

You can check out the full report here. If anyone knows where I can purchase a robot dragon, please contact me.

[Source: Kotaku]