Earlier this week, the NRCC digital team launched The Waste List, a Craigslist-style website aimed at documenting examples of government waste.

Visitors can not only explore sterling examples of your tax dollars going down the drain, such as $330 million in Medicaid payments to people who have evaded paying their taxes, but also at specific government programs clearly not necessary for the survival of the Republic, such as $1.5 million for video game console design.

The Washington Examiner has already published “7 Egregious Examples of Government Waste” based on #TheWasteList website.

The website has a complementary social media campaign using the hashtag #TheWasteList.

NRCC Digital Director Gerrit Lansing says additional features will be coming to the site soon.

Projects like #TheWatchList leverage ideas from popular digital media, like Craigslist, to communicate policy and political messages more effectively. This meme-like leveraging of popular brands to get a message across takes a deft touch and savvy execution, and the NRCC digital team has been displaying both with several successful projects recently, including the digital launch of the Ryan budget. They can also be a powerful resource for reporters, making it easier to write about specific situations where the government is wasting taxpayer dollars, as exhibited by the Examiner piece above.

What do you think?

Can efforts like #TheWatchList help reduce government waste, fraud and abuse?