USAID may be the biggest scandal in American History.

#51
#51
EasternVol said:
Its true intent isn't all that nefarious though, and shutting it won't stop the three letter people from doing their thing by other means. Shutting the whole thing down would be misguided and shortsighted.
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I guess it depends on how much of it is waste/shennanigans. Might be easier to shut it all down and bring back the good than to try to route out all the bad. Apparently State is taking over many functions (hopefully the good).

In the bigger picture we see: 1) there is massive waste in the Federal Government, 2) we have redundant and opaque agencies/activities that self-perpetuate, 3) everyone fights like hell to keep their fiefdom or pet projects. It would be nice to think there could be rational, measured reform but burning things down may be the only way to address the situation.
 
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#55
#55
KB5252 said:
I'd shut it down for the short term while bumpers were applied to prohibit abuse or nefarious activity and to ensure oversight is allowed and applied diligently.

You have to make sure the right people are involved and the wrong agencies don't have influence. That's the tricky part.

Regardless they must respond and cooperate with oversight. They can't be allowed to cowboy it anymore.
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You don’t have to shut it all down at once. You could do “rolling blackouts”.
 
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#56
#56
volinbham said:
I guess it depends on how much of it is waste/shennanigans. Might be easier to shut it all down and bring back the good than to try to route out all the bad. Apparently State is taking over many functions (hopefully the good).

In the bigger picture we see: 1) there is massive waste in the Federal Government, 2) we have redundant and opaque agencies/activities that self-perpetuate, 3) everyone fights like hell to keep their fiefdom or pet projects. It would be nice to thing there could be rational, measured reform but burning things down may be the only way to address the situation.
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Yes. This is so different than the USAID I knew. They used to be heavily invested in third world level agricultural development back in the day. My dad was an agronomist for UGA on the UGA Experiment Station in my hometown. In 1980, he was offered a Directors postion overseeing the Peanut CRSP program through UGA...funded by USAID. He subcontracted areas of research and development in peanuts to other universities like NC State, Alabama A&M, Texas A&M, etc. They worked on disease resistence, pest resistence, germination, crop production, etc. At one point they had a developed a peanut strain that would germinate and grow in arid soil. Carter would point to my dad as the worlds foremost expert in peanuts, if asked. As part of member country buy-ins, he would travel to these places and work with them on developing their base food crops. USAID funded a variety of CRSP programs including corn and sorghum. Dad just got tapped for the Director over Peanut CRSP. He maintained his UGA employment and retirement, but his salary and program fudning was then provided by USAID through the program. And they were very strict on their annual finacial audits back then. He even had to show them physically the $1.50 pocket calculator he purchased for his brief case for job use. He never had $.01 discrepancy in his budgets under his directorship, and after a number of years, they quit auditing him. They just accepted his reports. USAID once did really good things for the world.

My how times have changed. I do recall some leadership changes near his retirement in 1996 in USAID that had oversight on the CRSP programs and it makes sense now the concerns he was having with the future. The new overseers, the changes they were making in directors at his level, the people that were being hired/appointed to take over, etc. Even though he was UGA, he was becoming unsettled with the direction USAID was headed with CRSP programs even in the late 90's.

I used to work in the Food Science Department at that Experiment Station in the summers. Got to do some really cool things, and pretty much set up experiements for the department head that got me listed as a co-author on a study published in the Journal of Food Science by my boss back in the mid-80's as a high schooler/college kid. Never followed my dad in the Ag world. Nor my brother or sister. But my step son I think was influenced by my dad's career, and he is the only one of the kids and grand kids that is in Ag now as a career. I grew up in it, and participated in having the best lawn and best garden on our street. And still maintain my own garden. Kinda surprised I didn't go that route, except I didn't have the desire academically at the time to persue a Masters and PhD in the field which would have been a necessity to do anything at his level. Ironically i ended up securing a masters in business. So, ultimately I was only 3 more years from his level as it played out if I had gone Ag/Science.
 
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#57
#57
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#58
#58
theFallGuy said:
thanks for posting that makes it much more clear. I actually have a family member whose job is impacted by this because they depend on USAid funds.
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This stuck out the most from the link.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said the U.S. government was spending “too much” overall on foreign aid, according to a March 2023 AP-NORC poll. Asked about specific costs, roughly 7 in 10 U.S. adults said the U.S. government was putting too much money toward assistance to other countries. About 9 in 10 Republicans and 55% of Democrats agreed that the country was overspending on foreign aid. At the time, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said the government was spending “too little” on domestic issues that included education, health care, infrastructure, Social Security and Medicare.
 
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#62
#62
SpaceCoastVol said:
Yep. Leftists live them some big government. Don't threaten it in the least
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Trump went after the 2A, as well as a few others, the first time around that was ruled unConstitutional.

then almost immediately in his second term he goes after the 14th with an EO.

your guy isn't doing an acceptable job there either.
 
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#63
#63

EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump and Elon Musk's USAID Closure Will Hit BBC Charity​


The US humanitarian relief agency being shut down by Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been funding the BBC’s charity to the tune of $3 Million of American taxpayers' money each year, MailOnline can reveal today.

The complete closure of USAID, which President Trump has said is 'run by radical lunatics', would blow a giant hole in BBC Media Action's annual budget.

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity and it trains journalists and produces programmes that are broadcast in some of the world's poorest regions.

It funds a range of projects in 30 countries and 50 languages across the world, from advising with the United Nations on media disinformation to mentoring journalists in Africa on climate change and 'changing perceptions' about the Covid-19 vaccination.

The charity, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, says its work is 'building stronger democracies', making a 'safer, more habitable planet' and creating 'more inclusive societies' - especially for the disabled and LGBTQI+ people.

Last year USAID gave BBC Media Action $3.23million (£2.58million) of US taxpayers' money, making it the second largest donor to the British-based charity. In the previous 12 months USAID donated $2.35million (£1.89million) to fund projects in Afghanistan, Kenya, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other nations.

But some critics have questioned whether all its work qualifies for humanitarian aid funding from the US government, which ramped up financial support considerably while Joe Biden was in the White House.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Donald Trump and Elon Musk's USAID closure will hit BBC charity

The complete closure of USAID, which Mr Trump has said is 'run by radical lunatics', would blow a near 10 per cent hole in BBC Media Action's annual budget .
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
#64
#64
LouderVol said:
Trump went after the 2A, as well as a few others, the first time around that was ruled unConstitutional.

then almost immediately in his second term he goes after the 14th with an EO.

your guy isn't doing an acceptable job there either.
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The 14th is a valid constitutional question. This is a direct way to challenge and get it to court.
 
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#66
#66
#67
#67
NCFisher said:
The 14th is a valid constitutional question. This is a direct way to challenge and get it to court.
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a direct way doesn't mean its a good way. an attack on one of our rights is an attack on all of our rights.

a better way would have been to go ahead and frame up the amendment, and start getting support in Congress.
 
#68
#68
volinbham said:
I guess it depends on how much of it is waste/shennanigans. Might be easier to shut it all down and bring back the good than to try to route out all the bad. Apparently State is taking over many functions (hopefully the good).

In the bigger picture we see: 1) there is massive waste in the Federal Government, 2) we have redundant and opaque agencies/activities that self-perpetuate, 3) everyone fights like hell to keep their fiefdom or pet projects. It would be nice to think there could be rational, measured reform but burning things down may be the only way to address the situation.
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With our system, shutting it down and restarting it wouldn't be more effective in solving its problems than reforming it. Just impose transparency and other tighter controls.
 
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#69
#69
LouderVol said:
a direct way doesn't mean its a good way. an attack on one of our rights is an attack on all of our rights.

a better way would have been to go ahead and frame up the amendment, and start getting support in Congress.
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I think it's the perfect way.

Trump forecast this to wind up in the judiciary as he was signing it. Immediately, a judge stayed it, now it starts winding the path to SCOTUS. We're not discussing changing an amendment but reviewing the interpretation and intent of; Congress has no role there.
 
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#70
#70
PEPPERJAX said:
This stuck out the most from the link.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said the U.S. government was spending “too much” overall on foreign aid, according to a March 2023 AP-NORC poll. Asked about specific costs, roughly 7 in 10 U.S. adults said the U.S. government was putting too much money toward assistance to other countries. About 9 in 10 Republicans and 55% of Democrats agreed that the country was overspending on foreign aid. At the time, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said the government was spending “too little” on domestic issues that included education, health care, infrastructure, Social Security and Medicare.
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Did you notice how much those that think we give too much think we give? And how much we really do?
 
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#71
#71
NCFisher said:
I think it's the perfect way.

Trump forecast this to wind up in the judiciary as he was signing it. Immediately, a judge stayed it, now it starts winding the path to SCOTUS. We're not discussing changing an amendment but reviewing the interpretation and intent of; Congress has no role there.
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it may be the fastest way, but that doesn't make it the best way.

It would be quicker if I used a bazooka to blow up any door in my way. doesn't mean I should do it.
 
#73
#73
Franklin Pierce said:

EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump and Elon Musk's USAID Closure Will Hit BBC Charity​


The US humanitarian relief agency being shut down by Elon Musk and Donald Trump has been funding the BBC’s charity to the tune of $3 Million of American taxpayers' money each year, MailOnline can reveal today.

The complete closure of USAID, which President Trump has said is 'run by radical lunatics', would blow a giant hole in BBC Media Action's annual budget.

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international development charity and it trains journalists and produces programmes that are broadcast in some of the world's poorest regions.

It funds a range of projects in 30 countries and 50 languages across the world, from advising with the United Nations on media disinformation to mentoring journalists in Africa on climate change and 'changing perceptions' about the Covid-19 vaccination.

The charity, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, says its work is 'building stronger democracies', making a 'safer, more habitable planet' and creating 'more inclusive societies' - especially for the disabled and LGBTQI+ people.

Last year USAID gave BBC Media Action $3.23million (£2.58million) of US taxpayers' money, making it the second largest donor to the British-based charity. In the previous 12 months USAID donated $2.35million (£1.89million) to fund projects in Afghanistan, Kenya, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other nations.

But some critics have questioned whether all its work qualifies for humanitarian aid funding from the US government, which ramped up financial support considerably while Joe Biden was in the White House.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Donald Trump and Elon Musk's USAID closure will hit BBC charity

The complete closure of USAID, which Mr Trump has said is 'run by radical lunatics', would blow a near 10 per cent hole in BBC Media Action's annual budget .
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
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If the recipient of the aid is legitimate and located in countries to which it is legal for the US to send money, then why launder the payments through a British entity?
 
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