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Report Blasts Rabbit Massages Among Gov't Waste

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A maverick Republican senator has released his annual collection of billions of dollars of government waste, citing examples like faulty missile defenses, unneeded airports and golf course repairs completed on taxpayers' dollars.

Sen. Tom Coburn's yearly "Wastebook" cites 100 examples, big and small, of questionable spending like a $347,000 alternative medicine grant to measure the benefits of massage on rabbits or $200,000 to upgrade Ithaca, New York's SWAT team equipment.

The Oklahoman also blasts his Mississippi Republican colleagues for forcing funding of a $350 million NASA launch pad tower for a rocket program that was shut down four years ago. The tower was immediately mothballed.

Coburn is retiring from Congress this year.