Definition

A government project that wastes taxpayer money on something spectacularly useless or poorly planned. The legislative equivalent of buying a gold-plated hammer.

Example Usage

Critics called the $500 million bridge to nowhere a classic boondoggle, especially since it would serve a town of 50 people.

Origin

Originally 1930s Boy Scout slang for making useless leather crafts; adopted during the New Deal to criticize wasteful federal programs

Fun Fact

The term entered political vocabulary when a New York Times article exposed $3 million spent teaching unemployed workers to make 'boondoggles' during the Depression.

Source: Budget and appropriations terminology

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