Re: Gutting USAID

In article <vnrosl$1hkm6$1@dont-email.me>, atropos@mac.com wrote:

The press is running for the fainting couch over Trump setting DOGE loose on
USAID with plans to gut the entire organization.
>
Here's a small taste of what USAID has been doing with your tax money:
>
--$1.5 million to advance DEI programs in Serbia's workplaces
>
--$70,000 to produce a DEI musical in Ireland
>
--$47,000 to produce a transgender opera in Colombia
>
--$32,000 to publish a transgender comic book in Peru
>
...and the list goes on.
>
They don't need to just put a stop to outrageous spending of tax dollars on
crap like this, they need to burn down the entire organization and start from
scratch.
>
Why, as an American taxpayer, do I even care if Serbia's workplaces have DEI,
let alone want to spend millions on it?!? If Serbia wants DEI, they can damn
well fund it themselves.
>
Same with Ireland. If it loves DEI so much it wants to praise it in the form
of musical theater, then Ireland can pay for it.
>
And Colombia... and Peru. Why in the fuck are we spending untold amounts of
our money on this crap in the first place, let alone for other countries?

Over the past several decades, billions of hard-earned American taxpayer dollars have
been funneled into left-wing initiatives around the globe through the United States
Agency for International Development.

Established in 1961, the agency was intended to administer foreign aid and assistance to
developing nations, but it has since apparently become an unscrutinized black hole of
waste, fraud, and abuse.

With a mandate from American voters nationwide, President Donald Trump and his
administration have set their sights on rooting out the federal government's wasteful
spending.

DEI
� $45 million to diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarships in Burma. The DOGE
reported that seven "DEI-related" USAID contracts valued at $375 million were canceled.

� $1.5 million "to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and
business communities, by promoting economic empowerment of and opportunity for LGBTQI+
people." The program aimed to "expand opportunities" and "reduce[] workplace
discrimination."

� $1.5 million to "art for inclusion of people with disabilities."

� $19 million for two separate "inclusion" programs in Vietnam.

� $1.3 million to "provide Arab and Jewish [Israeli] residents � with a collaborative
platform, photography skills." The program offered participants "mixed identity
photography workshops."

LGBT

� $2 million for "activity to strengthen trans-led organizations to deliver gender-
affirming health care" in Guatemala.

� $37.7 million to study HIV among "sex workers (SWS), their clients, and transgender
(TG) people" in South Africa.

� $7.9 million to teach Sri Lankan journalists about "gender-sensitive reporting."

� $1.1 million to "empower the LGBTI community" and "protect them from violence and
discrimination" in Armenia.

� $1.5 million to "upscale LGBT rights advocacy" in Jamaica.

Climate hysteria

� $520 million for consultant-driven environmental, social, and governance investments
in Africa, according to the DOGE.

� $2.5 million to build electric vehicle charging stations and other related
infrastructure in Vietnam. Through the USAID Vietnam Urban Energy Security project, the
agency has "provide[d] funding and technical assistance for innovative solutions that
address urban energy and environment issues."

� $1 million to assist disabled people in Tajikistan to become "climate leaders."

� $24 million for a "green transportation and logistics program" in Georgia.

Cultural & educational propaganda

� $20 million on "Ahlan Simsim," a new "Sesame Street" show in Iraq. According to a
now-archived version of USAID's website, the children's series was "designed to promote
inclusion, mutual respect, and understanding across ethnic, religious, and sectarian
groups."

� $6 million for tourism in Egypt, according to the White House. Corporate media outlets
were quick to "fact-check" a press release linked by the Trump administration, arguing
that it did not mention that the funds would be used for tourism purposes. However,
USAID has invested $100 million in taxpayer dollars that have either directly or
indirectly boosted Egypt's tourism, including an $8.6 million campaign in 2022.

� $1.2 million to construct a "state-of-the-art 440 seat auditorium" for the African
Methodist Episcopal Church Service and Development Agency in Washington, D.C.

� $31.5 million on "counseling, organizational resilience, wellness, and work-life
support" for USAID employees, Fox News reported.

� $29 million to "improve the skills of young and female Egyptians in the manufacturing
and service sectors," Fox News reported.

� $4.5 million to "advance integrity and accountability in the information space, and
build societal resilience in the face of disinformation" in Kazakhstan.

� $6 million to "transform digital spaces to reflect feminist democratic principles."

Foreign policy & security risks

� $160 million to update payment systems in Afghanistan.

� $1 million to a Hamas-linked charity in Gaza.

� $15 million for condoms and oral contraceptives in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

� $4.67 million to EcoHealth Alliance, a research organization that funded the Wuhan lab
linked to the COVID-19 virus.

� $330 million to fund alternative development projects that failed to "deter farmers
and [drug] traffickers from cultivating" poppy plants, thereby "inadvertently" fueling
heroin production and trafficking in Afghanistan.

The federal government gave "hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-
affiliated fighters in Syria," according to a November report from the Washington Times.

Based on reporting from the Washington Examiner, the White House stated that the
government provided "hundreds of thousands of dollars for a nonprofit linked to
designated terrorist organizations � even _after_ an inspector general launched an
investigation." It also allegedly funded "print[ing] 'personalized' contraceptive birth
control devices in developing countries."

Further, USAID awarded $1.2 billion to undisclosed recipients, according to DOGE.

To provide context for USAID's spending, in fiscal year 2023, the agency managed a
roughly $43.8 billion budget.

Outside USAID, the federal government also made questionable funding decisions through
the State Department, providing $70,000 for a DEI musical in Ireland, $35,000 for a
transgender comic book in Peru, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia, and $22,231
on a "USAID Social Media Influencers Campaign."

While the USAID-funded initiatives listed above are alarming, they represent only a
small fraction of the agency's total spending. We will continue to update this tracker
as more shocking revelations emerge.

--
Let's go Brandon!