To cap off our 30th anniversary year we want to hear from you – our loyal Weekly Wastebasket readers. As you know we have been informing the public on budgetary issues in an approachable, snarky, and insightful manner since our founding. About 15 years ago we hosted a competition for the best Wastebasket title since our founding. It's time to do it again. The winner from our first decade and a half was "Sur-tax-a-lot." We picked our top ten, so please let us know your favorite from the last 15 years. And have a magnificent holiday season. We'll see you in 2026 when we reveal the winner of our poll.

Without further ado, here are the nominees: 

You Say You Want a Resolution (2011) – A budget resolution is the Budget Committee Chairman's vision, often sold as a sweeping plan for spending. In reality, it is just the framework for budget building. Still, a responsible blueprint is necessary for Congress to start negotiations to put the nation on a path to fiscal responsibility.  

Treasury Vampires (2012) – Just after Halloween, USDA sets final crop prices that determine crop insurance payouts. Record prices mean record costs for taxpayers, but special interests are bloodthirsty for a trillion-dollar farm bill and more giveaways. Taxpayers deserve a limited, effective farm safety net, not ghoulish legislation prioritizing agribusiness. 

Dancing with the Four Stars (2016) – The National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund was created to move submarine costs off the Navy's books, claiming these weapons are national assets. A bad idea that was sure to set a precedent. Sure enough, a couple years later the Air Force wanted the same treatment for the B-21 bomber. We urged lawmakers to turn the lights on and send this budget gimmick off the dance floor.  

Love and Subsidies: An Agriculture Story (2019) – Valentine's Day is a time for love. Every day must be Valentine's Day for agriculture, given the sweetheart subsidies and farm bill blessings. Congress should show that same love for fiscal responsibility and for taxpayers. 

Robbing Peter Pentagon to pay for Paul The Wall (2019) – The administration's focus on a physical border wall set up a battle over the power of the purse. In fiscal year 2020 spending bills, Congress provided funding for border security tech and personnel and left in place FY2018 and FY2019 funds for border wall construction, but no new funds. The Pentagon spending bill also rejected use of off-budget funds for the southern border barrier, setting up yet another legislative-versus-executive branch battle over the nations purse strings.  

Pain in the Tongass the Sequel (2019) – For decades, the U.S. Forest Service's timber sales have operated at a net loss in the Tongass National Forest. The Forest Service proposed a draft rule to exempt Alaska from the national Roadless Rule. It's time to accept that timber sales in the Tongass are not a meaningful source of revenue. 

Dearly Departed for Day of the Dead (2021) – What better time to honor the dead than Dia De Los Muertos? From the Pentagon's bloated OCO slush fund to FutureGen and VEETC, we remember wasteful programs that we helped be laid to rest.  

Hydrogen Hype (2024) – Don't believe the hype. Hydrogen is considered by many to be the clean energy solution. The reality is that, without taxpayer safeguards and oversight, new subsidies could flow to fossil fuel facilities, meaning that taxpayers could end up funding projects that do more harm than good. 

Make Arithmetic Great Again (2025) – The One Big Beautiful Bill included many provisions that would make any mathematician's head spin. Each House committee completed their reconciliation packages, but the baseline math just didn't add up. The bill hid long-term costs behind early expiration of some provisions and delayed implementation of others.  

Fiscal Fright Fest (2025) – In the lead-up to Halloween, we rounded up some of the scariest fiscal horror flicks. In a year marked by the longest-ever federal government shutdown, there were quite a few budgetary tricks, and not so many treats.  

Again, please vote for your favorite and we'll let you know the winner in 2026. Here's to the next 30 years of TCS!