Taxpayers are funding a $325,000 robotic squirrel to learn more about how real ones interact with their main predator, rattlesnakes. With U.S. debt over $16 trillion, is a Robosquirrel the best way to spend our cash?
WEWS reports:
San Diego State University and the University of California, Davis are being criticized for spending $325,000 on a robotic squirrel. It's a project funded by the National Science Foundation and built on taxpayer dollars.
Taxpayer watchdog Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has blasted the "RoboSquirrel" project saying, "the problem in Washington is politicians are very specific about what we should fund, but not specific about what we should cut. As a result, we are chasing robotic squirrels and countless other low-priority projects over a fiscal cliff."
The researchers said when confronted by rattlesnakes, California ground squirrels employ a key defensive tactic to stave off the snake -- they wag their tails.
Coburn cited "RoboSquirrel" in his government pork list of some of the most "egregious" ways taxpayer dollars are being spent. He claimed this year's total is $18 billion.
