In Spite of Sequester: $63K for Russian Walrus Skin Biopsies

    While Vice President Biden's limo and hotel costs certainly attracted a lot of attention a few weeks ago after my Weekly Standard posts, those expenses arguably served national security purposes.  But while Drudge is currently headlining "Bagpipes for Homeland Security," my current personal favorite sequester-busting government spending example involves the Fish and Wildlife Service's latest contract award:

    Although the description is a little different, the bid solicitation a few months back explained a little more about the need to sample the skin of the large marine mammal:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a requirement procuring all necessary permits and working with our Russian partners to coordinate all Russian logistics associated with conducting a biopsy sampling program in the Bering and Chukchi Sea in the spring and summer of 2013.

    I'm not a marine biologist so I do not know how large a sample is taken from a walrus for a biopsy.  But it's a safe bet that most taxpayers won't believe a pound of flesh from a walrus is worth a pound of theirs.