XPost: alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics
XPost: talk.politics.misc, or.politics
https://amac.us/newsline/society/usaid-outrage-dems-die-on-the-hill-of- defending-government-waste-fraud-and-abuse/
The outrage over the Trump administration’s moves to rein in documented
waste and fraud at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
shows where Democrats’ true priorities lie – not with the American people,
but with left-wing special interests and shadowy NGOs frivolously spending
U.S. taxpayer dollars in faraway lands.
For four years, Joe Biden used the presidency to target his political opponents, import millions of unvetted illegal aliens, and shield his son
from criminal prosecution, among other glaring and egregious abuses of
power. Throughout all of this, Democrats and their corporate media allies oscillated between turning a blind eye to the corruption and actively
enabling it.
But as soon as Donald Trump threatened to turn off the spigot of American dollars flowing to foreign countries, Democrats leapt into action,
promising lawsuits and a tooth-and-nail fight to keep the agency open. A
group of congressional Democrats even tried to force its way into USAID headquarters on Monday before being turned away by security. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy went so far as to call the situation a
“constitutional crisis.”
The saga began over the weekend after the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began targeting USAID personnel and programs for cuts as
part of its broader mission to reduce wasteful government spending.
On Monday, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he was
appointing himself active director of USAID, effectively solidifying that
the State Department had taken over the formerly independent agency. “The Department of State and other pertinent entities will be consulting with Congress and the appropriate committees to reorganize and absorb certain bureaus, offices, and missions of USAID,” Rubio wrote in a letter to
Congress.
In principle, USAID is supposed to act as the humanitarian arm of the U.S. government, distributing aid to poor and underdeveloped regions of the
world. The agency’s budget, about $44 billion in fiscal year 2024, is relatively small compared to behemoths like the State Department or the
Defense Department.
But USAID has been plagued by accusations of mismanagement for years, and conservatives have long alleged that the agency has become little more
than a slush fund for left-wing pet projects with no oversight from
Congress. In the ensuing fight over Trump’s efforts to shutter the agency, those accusations have proven more or less correct.
There are undoubtedly some legitimate initiatives that USAID is involved
in, a fact which Democrats cling to. But those worthwhile endeavors do
little to mask the enormous pile of waste, fraud, and abuse at the agency.
For instance, one NGO under the Biden administration received $1.5 million
from USAID to “advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia’s
workplaces and business communities, by promoting economic empowerment of
and opportunity for LGBTQI+ people in Serbia.”
In another case, a group in Ireland – hardly a nation in need of U.S.
taxpayer money for “international development” – was awarded $70,000 to
produce a “DEI musical.” Another $2 million grant from USAID went to
promote “gender-affirming care” in Guatemala. $32,000 went toward funding
a comic book promoting transgenderism in Peru. Another USAID program
awarded $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia.
Other funding outlays were less overtly political but just as ridiculous.
$6 million went to fund tourism in Egypt – a nation with a larger GDP than Finland and Portugal. Another $2.5 million was dispatched to Vietnam for electric vehicles.
To be sure, all of these line items are miniscule compared to the
gargantuan size of the overall federal budget. But it is safe to assume
that the vast majority of Americans – even liberals who might be
ideologically sympathetic to left-wing causes – don’t want their tax
dollars going to fund such programs in foreign countries.
It should also be telling for the American people watching this drama
unfold in D.C. that this is the line in the sand Democrats have chosen to
draw. Perhaps nothing thus far in Trump’s second term has drawn such a
clear contrast between the priorities of the two parties.
Under Joe Biden, American communities were ravaged by fentanyl coming
across the border, American apartment complexes were taken over by foreign gangs, American industry was pillaged by China, American prestige was
insulted and disgraced around the world, and yet this is where Democrats
have chosen to make their stand – on defending an obscure federal agency
so that it can continue funding projects that waste American taxpayer
dollars at best and undermine America’s global standing at worst.
What Democrats have failed to offer is any sort of coherent explanation as
to how any of the USAID projects outlined here improve American
communities in any way. In democratic nations, the government’s compact
with the people is that their tax dollars will be put to work to advance
the national interest.
How exactly a transgender comic book in Peru advances America’s national interest is anyone’s best guess. Democrats are irate that someone is even asking the question.
Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. He is a native of Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.
The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
