Via the Sidetrack, USAspending.gov, the new database of federal expenditures, actually offers data on paper shredding services. And the results are, uh, telling. 
Check ut that jump right after the war in Iraq. Guess we've not yet reached a paperless war! (hhar har har...sob) To give a sense of scale, the 2006 total was $2.9 million spent on the destruction of documents. And lest you be misled into believing things are getting better, the 2007 total only includes data till about midway through the year. So halfway through 2007, they'd nearly passed the historic high of 2006. On the bright side, at least so far as taxpayers are concerned, there's a slight possibility that the Bush administration is finding more efficient ways to destroy government information.
Check ut that jump right after the war in Iraq. Guess we've not yet reached a paperless war! (hhar har har...sob) To give a sense of scale, the 2006 total was $2.9 million spent on the destruction of documents. And lest you be misled into believing things are getting better, the 2007 total only includes data till about midway through the year. So halfway through 2007, they'd nearly passed the historic high of 2006. On the bright side, at least so far as taxpayers are concerned, there's a slight possibility that the Bush administration is finding more efficient ways to destroy government information. 
