After 280,000 votes cast and 15,000 e-mails, the first “winner” of the YouCut initiative (background here) is a $2.5 billion welfare fund that was part of the 2009 stimulus bonanza. Reps. Tom Price (R. Ga.) and Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) will introduce a measure to repeal the funding.

Here are the final results (my favored target — taxpayer-subsidized union activities, finished second):

17.45% for 1 – Presidential Election Fund
27.06% for 2 – Taxpayer Subsidized Union Activities
11.89% for 3 – HUD Program for Doctoral Dissertations
29.07% for 4 – New Non-Reformed Welfare Program
16.53% for 5 – Eliminate Wealthier Communities from CDBG

And here is some background on the welfare program:

The welfare emergency fund provided States with up to $5 billion in new Federal funds in 2009 and 2010 if they increase welfare caseloads, among other outcomes. Of that $5 billion thus far $2.4 billion has been spent; including, $1 billion for “basic assistance” (i.e. welfare checks), $1 billion for “non-recurrent short-term assistance,” and under $400 million (16%) for “subsidized employment.”
Here is just one example of how States spent this money on “non-recurrent short-term assistance.” Last summer New York State used welfare emergency funds to make one-time $200 per child “back to school” payments to welfare and food stamp recipients. But many recipients didn’t use the money for back to school supplies. As CBS News reported, the funds were used in many cases to purchase “flat screen TVs, iPods and video gaming systems;” and convenience stores in certain areas “noted marked increases in beer, lotto and cigarette sales.”
Despite the documented waste of taxpayer funds, the majority in Congress is proposing to continue the program for another year and add another $2.5 billion in new money.