So... apparently this is a problem in the United States: news has just come out that the American public spent OVER $175 MILLION on PENIS PUMPS. You read that correctly.  

According to a report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (so it's COMPLETELY official), the Federal government has paid more than twice the retail price for the average penis pump and they did it all between the years of 2006 to 2011, where they fulfilled over 400,000 orders. Experts say that this is a perfect example of wasteful spending in by the Federal government, especially when it comes to health care.

"The fact that taxpayers have spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the past decade on penis pumps via Medicare is obscene and insulting -- even more so when you consider that this is an arena of Medicare expenditures rife with fraud and where the government doesn't even bother to assess medical necessity," said Ben Domenech, a senior fellow at the Heartland Institute. "This is a perfect example of what happens when government becomes the be all and end all of human existence -- a system where everyone has a right to a taxpayer-funded penis pump." 

The sole purpose of a penis pump, as we all know, is to treat impotence and, according to the Daily Mail, that's all good and fine... but if you want it, you shouldn't stick your fellow taxpayers with the bill, especially if it means less funds for REAL life-saving treatments. "Considering the strain retiring baby boomers will soon be placing on Medicare's budget, shouldn't we be focusing this entitlement program on real, life-saving treatment and equipment to serve the health needs of seniors -- instead of subsidizing penis pump purchases?" Ben Domenech of the Heartland Institute think tank said in an email statement. "And to those seniors who really do want one, just buy it yourself -- you don't need to send the bill to your fellow Americans."