Two thoughts about USAID
Cuts are needed but ...
First thought: Rubio is no math genius
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that 83 percent of USAID contracts will be cancelled. He then went on to say, "In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18 percent of programs we are keeping (approximately 1,000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department.” I don't know how well the secretary did on his SAT exam, but 83 plus 18 equals 101. Am I the only one who thinks someone needs to tutor Rubio?
Second thought: Use a scalpel, not a chainsaw
I agree that cuts to USAID need to be made. But wouldn't the more humane way have been to cut the program's budget 10 percent a year for 5 years? This way, most food and medicine would reach those in need now while slowly cutting back. My guess is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young children and adults around the globe are going to grow up malnourished or be misdiagnosed as a result of Washington’s new "chainsaw" diplomacy.
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-DF
What cuts to USAID, exactly, need to be made? What programs are unnecessary, and when did they become so?
Given that so many USAID programs are: beneficial to the health of Americans (by fighting infectious deseases at their source); feed and temporarily house refugees of war-torn countries (often exacerbated by our own gov't - think Gaza); provide subsidies to American farms and dairies for the food provided to needy countries; generate good will around the world (especially in these times of know-nothing ambassadors and "diplomats" in the Trump administration), and so much more: What, precisely, should we stop fundng?
I seems to hear this alot: people agreeing with Trump/Musk's slash & burn because "well, there's a lot of waste in government." OK, so where is it, and how did it get there. There's waste in every organization, public or private. I was in the military; I saw waste first-hand, but it was insignificant compared to the cost of the mission.
If there's waste & corruption anywhere in our federal government right now, it's occurring in the White House. Paying high salaries to incompetent, inexperienced hacks, paying Trump to commute back & forth to Mar-a-Ego to play golf. Think of the wasted funds required to rebuild the agencies DOGE has shut down, when they realize the gov't can't function without them.
All I know is that every government employee I've ever know has been hard working and dedicated to serving the public. I wish I could say the same about those at the White House and the media flacks that refuse to call out the President and his cronies in congress by name and deed.
It is hard to find anything positive to say about what has been going on since Trump’s second inauguration. It has been noted that letters to your Representatives in Congress are the best way to register your displeasure. Protests are going on all over Orange County.