When money comes from the taxpayers and goes to people who are friends with the money-allocating decision maker people, it’s not a “waste,” from the decision makers’ point of view.

Also applies to “expensive” wars, and also does a lot to explain why funding schools or the USPS is hard but funding the military is super easy. It’s not a cost; it’s a big ol’ haystack of cash that fell from the sky, and we gotta do that again real soon, man.