Trump and Musk have their personal agendas.
USAID has been a cornerstone of USA policy delivery worldwide for almost 60 years. Quantifying the benefits to better health, safety, and security is impossible, but Mr. Trump does not care. He and his friend Elon Musk have their agendas for wanting to shut it down.
INTRODUCTION
Imagine an organization helping people worldwide, advancing US social, economic, strategic, and health interests while making the world a better place and saving millions of lives. That is USAID, the United States Agency for International Development.
Until a few days ago, USAID provided funding and assistance to countries that needed it, including food, medicine, and education, while advancing US interests. Either the US does it, or China and the Soviet Union will quickly step in to fill the void.
@openyourohjos and those who voted for Mr. Trump, who would you rather have working on the political, social, economic and security for the world? The USA or Russia and China?
However, Mr. Trump has come out swinging. He stated, “USAID holds no value and wastes trillions, possibly illegally, and there must be significant kickback schemes.”
Although he provides no evidence, he likely wanted to add, “based on common sense,” as his method for concluding that DEI played a role in the air crash in Washington, D.C.
THE CLAIMS
Let's examine the claims made and see if they are true.
Mr. Trump and President Elon Musk have both said that USAID is wasting billions, maybe trillions and the organization is a den of corruption. Is this true?
The USAID budget for 2023 was about $19 billion. In my books, that’s a lot of money, but for the US Government and Elon Musk, one could hardly even see it. The US government budget is about $6.2 trillion, and President Musk is only worth $405 billion, up $170 billion since the election. That’s not a bad return on his $250 million investment in Trump’s campaign.
If Mr. and Ms. Normal had the same investment opportunity and put $1,000 down, at the end of one year, they would have an extra $7,000 in their bank accounts. Trump and his wealthy friends have this opportunity, but the millions of the rest do not. The rich get richer, and the poor get hit.
USAID's budget is 0.0031 percent of the entire US government budget. To put it in terms that I can understand, for each $100 spent by the US government, 31 cents went to USAID. Much of that money stays in the USA, buying locally grown supplies and services. For example, about $750 million went to farmers to buy their crops.
What will happen now? Will the farmers receive a subsidy to keep them afloat like they did in the China tariff dispute?
Cutting USAID's budget will result in fewer jobs and less business for American companies, contradicting Trump's promise to “make America great again.”
And we cannot even begin to understand the negative impacts being felt around the world and the potential harm for the US. But just wait until China and Russia move in to fill the void and the USA is hit with a pandemic of measles, Ebola, polio or smallpox. Mr.
Trump has the answer: “Inject yourself with bleach.”
THE CRIMES OF USAID
President Musk, Mr. Trump, and the Press Secretary have all pointed to specific examples of how USAID wasted money. They showed examples of money spent on
things like:
· A transgender opera in Columbia.
· Promoting diversity in Serbia.
· Gender activism in Uganda.
· Helping men who have sex with men in South Africa.
· Family planning in Latin America.
· A musical about diversity, equity, and inclusion in Ireland.
We can always discuss whether those expenditures are appropriate, but let’s get real. They disagree with the spending of $24.6 million of the total USAID budget of $19.2 billion, or 0.0013 percent, and that is reason enough to shut it down?
There are also no examples of corruption, even though Trump says there must be “kickback schemes.” He is not saying “there are.” He says, “must be.” That is a big difference, and I wonder if that difference is based on his common sense?
Is this enough to say, “Shut it down?” Where is the discussion about the considerable human, financial and security costs of doing that? Millions of people in more than 130 countries are now facing starvation and health risks. How many will be allowed to die?
What about the thousands of Americans suddenly out of work and on the streets? The farmers who have lost their $750 million in sales overnight? The American businesses providing services, supplies, and equipment, and the world instability it causes by opening the door to China and Russia to expand their reach and influence?
There are enormous negative consequences that Mr. Trump and President Musk do not want to discuss or want you to know about but are critical to this debate.
MORE CRIMES?
Other claims of wasting money were made but have turned out to be lies. For example:
The claim that USAID paid $50 million for condoms for Gaza, which Hamas ended up using to make bombs. NOT TRUE
Mr. Trump had the wrong amount and the wrong Gaza. Some condoms did go to Gaza, but the one 6,000 km away from the Gaza strip.
The claim that USAID sent celebrities on expensive trips to Ukraine. NOT TRUE.
A video that looked real was fake news, and the claim was quickly shown to be false.
The claim that USAID paid money to a convicted criminal named Jeffrey Epstein. NOT TRUE
The person named in the document was not the pedophile and friend of Mr. Trump; it was another Jeffrey Epstein, a reputable citizen of the United States. Plus, the document showed a payment from 2023, but Epstein died in 2019.
The claim is that foreign aid accounts for about 25 percent of the total US budget. NOT TRUE.
Foreign aid expenditures are less than one percent of the total US budget.
WHY DO THEY WANT TO SHUT IT DOWN?
Did you know that USAID was investigating one of Musk’s companies? Could he want to shut USAID down to stop the investigation into his company? Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.
For Trump, many believe he intends to shut down USAID to help finance the tax cuts promised to his wealthy friends. Those will cost roughly $400 billion. This amount will need to be sourced from somewhere—cutting government services for US citizens, raising the debt ceiling and the debt, increasing taxes on the working class, or a combination of the above. These will harm you, your family, friends, and neighbours.
WHAT HAS NOT BEEN DISCUSSED BY TRUMP OR MUSK
Trump and Musk have not discussed the negative consequences.
It is important to remember that USAID has helped more than 130 countries for more than 60 years. It provides food and medicine, builds schools and hospitals, and helps people in emergencies, often saving lives.
Before deciding to cut the funding, it is essential to consider all the facts, for and against.
TO MAKE THIS ABOUT PEOPLE
The US is only a couple of weeks into this, and the social and economic impacts of shutting USAID will be disastrous. How do you put thousands on the unemployment line, remove billions of dollars of government spending from the US economy and shut down major sales from the US agriculture industries without having a profound impact?
@openyourojos, have your eyes opened up, even just a little bit? And what about all those who voted for Trump?
When will people stop believing that Mr. Trump will make America great again? Will it be when the food stamps are gone, the social security checks stop, the cost of medications skyrocket, or Obama Care disappears? (Oops – you didn’t know that was the Affordable Care Act?).
Will people stop being believers when they must pay 100 percent more for the eggs that Mr. Trump promised to drop the price of by 50 percent?
Or will it take the next pandemic, which you may not find out about until it is too late, because Mr. Trump has shut down all communications from the government agencies?
@openyourojos and all those who voted for Trump, you accepted Trump’s lies before. I wish there were a magic wand that would help people understand, change their minds and protect themselves from this mess. Maybe injecting bleach would help (not really, as I am being sarcastic) – or maybe Mr. Kennedy promoting people not to vaccinate while friends and family drop dead around their feet.
There is much more to say, but I will end by suggesting that this situation is sad and dangerous.
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