10. Surfing Subsidy

For the Department of Commerce for giving the City and County of Honolulu $28,600 in 1981 to study how they could spend another $250,000 for a good surfing beach. At the time, even a few Honolulu officials protested the grant, saying that local life time surfers would be available as volunteers.

9. Basketball Therapy

For the Health Care Financing Administration for Medicaid payments to psychiatrists for unscheduled, coincidental meetings with patients who were attending basketball games, sitting on stoops, etc. -- the cost of which was between $40 and $80 million from 1981 to 1984.

8. $2 Million Patrol Car

For the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration for spending $2 million in 1978 on a prototype police patrol car that was never completed. The car was loaded with gadgets and would have cost $49,078 each.

7. Tailhook

The Department of the Navy for using 64 planes to fly 1334 officers to the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas for a 1974 reunion of the Tailhook Association.

6. Tennis Cheaters

The National Endowment for the Humanities for a $25,000 grant in 1977 to study why people cheat, lie and act rudely on local Virginia tennis courts.

5. TV Watching Lessons

The Office of Education for spending $219,592 in 1978 to develop a curriculum to teach college students how to watch television.

4. New Jersey Sewer Museum

The Environmental Protection Agency for spending an extra $1 million to $1.2 million in 1980 to preserve a Trenton, NJ sewer as a historical monument.

3. How to Buy Worcestershire Sauce

The Department of the Army for spending $6,000 in 1981 to prepare a 17-page document that told the federal government how to buy a bottle of Worcestershire sauce.

2. Great Wall of Bedford, Indiana

The Economic Development Administration of the Commerce Department for spending $20,000 in 1981 to construct an 800-foot limestone replica of the Great Wall of China in Bedford, Indiana.

1. Tequila Fish

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for spending millions of dollars in 1975 to find out if drunken fish are more aggressive than sober fish, if young rats are more likely than adult rats to drink booze in order to reduce anxiety, and if rats can be systematically turned into alcoholics.

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