Watch this interview with a bedrock Republican Bush appointee who once ran USAID.

[berg80]

What is your opinion on the waste that is being uncovered? Should it still be operating in the dark out of taxpayer view?

From the article I linked to in my previous post.

“$70,000 for production of a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland”
This is wrong. This was a State Department grant, not USAID. In 2022, the U.S. ambassador hosted an event featuring Grammy-winning folk duo Francesco Turrisi and Rhiannon Giddens, along with other Irish and American musicians.
“$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam”
This is wrong. This was for more than electric vehicles. USAID launched a $2.5 million fund that provided awards up to $100,000 to organizations with promising new products, business models, or financing models in Danang or Ho Chi Minh cities. The fund was part of a larger effort to bring green energy to a country that is one of the world’s fastest-growing per capita greenhouse gas emitters. China has a head start on green energy, but the United States has sought to keep Vietnam out of China’s orbit, so the program was intended to boost the U.S. brand in green energy.

 

[SweetSue92]

Could it be the reason you favor what Musk is doing has to do with misinformation coming from the WH?

The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending​

Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.

As the Trump administration this week dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, the primary vehicle for U.S. foreign aid, the White House issued a statement justifying its actions. Titled “At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep,” the news release claimed USAID “has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.”

The news release then listed 12 examples, plucked from the websites of right-wing media. But the numbers cited — as low as $32,000 — hardly justify the claim that these are “massive sums” of money. In fact, they are so low that some of the funds appear to have been awarded at the ambassador level, without Washington involvement. At least one dated from the first Trump administration, and some were actually State Department grants, not USAID.

According to surveys, many Americans have a misguided view of how much money the United States devotes to foreign aid. Polls consistently reveal that Americans believe that it is about 25 percent of the federal budget — and that a majority believe it should be more like 10 percent. In reality, foreign aid is less than 1 percent of the budget.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/07/usaid-trump-fact-checker/

Great. If 32K is "not low", then give that to USAID.

What's stopping you, if it's so worthy?

Tell us when you donate

 

[berg80]

The list of "waste and abuse" the WH provided is pure fiction.

“$47,000 for a ‘transgender opera’ in Colombia”
This is wrong. USAID did not fund this. The White House appears to be referring to a $25,000 State Department grant to Universidad De Los Andes in Bogotá to stage an opera, “As One,” composed by Laura Kaminsky, an American. The rest of the money came from other sources, according to Juana Monsalve, the lead actress in the Colombian performances. “This is a well-known opera in the U.S., highly acclaimed by audiences,” Monsalve told a radio show in Spanish. “The last thing I expected was to hear those statements from the White House.”
“$32,000 for a ‘transgender comic book’ in Peru”
This is wrong. USAID did not fund this, and it was not specifically transgender. Instead, the grant says the State Department provided $32,000, under the guise of public diplomacy, to Peru’s Education Department “to cover expenses to produce a tailored-made comic, featured an LGBTQ+ hero to address social and mental health issues.”

 

[SweetSue92]

From the article I linked to in my previous post.

“$70,000 for production of a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland”
This is wrong. This was a State Department grant, not USAID. In 2022, the U.S. ambassador hosted an event featuring Grammy-winning folk duo Francesco Turrisi and Rhiannon Giddens, along with other Irish and American musicians.
“$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam”
This is wrong. This was for more than electric vehicles. USAID launched a $2.5 million fund that provided awards up to $100,000 to organizations with promising new products, business models, or financing models in Danang or Ho Chi Minh cities. The fund was part of a larger effort to bring green energy to a country that is one of the world’s fastest-growing per capita greenhouse gas emitters. China has a head start on green energy, but the United States has sought to keep Vietnam out of China’s orbit, so the program was intended to boost the U.S. brand in green energy.

WHY are we funding Irish concerts at all?
WHY are we giving our tax money for advances in Vietnam?

You think this is a flex but most people hate this. HATE IT

 

[berg80]

Great. If 32K is "not low", then give that to USAID.

What's stopping you, if it's so worthy?

Tell us when you donate

The point is the only examples the WH had to provide are lies.

 

[SweetSue92]

The point is the only examples the WH had to provide are lies.

They are NOT lies. Your "refutations" are just.....well....no EXACTLY.

I don't understand why any American...not a one....would endorse this stuff. But you can, you know. Send these projects a big fat check. Which one will you support PERSONALLY with your money?

Do tell us

 

[Seymour Flops]

What do you think about the specific examples he gave describing the irreplaceable benefits of USAID's work?

I think that you are completely dodging the points I made. So, I’ll make more.

The Republican said that when he took over USAID under Bush, he made a lot of changes - and - the career people DID NOT RESIST. His exact words. So he knows that the career people are resisting Trump as they did in his first term.

These Obama promoted Saul Alinsky cultists believe, or pretend to believe, that the American people had no right to choose Trump, and since they did, it up to them to “resist.”

If they are allowed to continue to be funded, with the hope that they will carry out the new policies, they will spend their time looking for ways to thwart Trump’s efforts on behalf of the American people and bring him down.

Just like the Justice Dept and FBI during his first term.

Any programs that are truly vital to the American people and “irreplaceable” can be carried on under the State Department and any new sub-agency created. USAID has not earned a second chance to be let loose with hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ hard earned dollars.

 

[hadit]

From the article I linked to in my previous post.

“$70,000 for production of a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland”
This is wrong. This was a State Department grant, not USAID. In 2022, the U.S. ambassador hosted an event featuring Grammy-winning folk duo Francesco Turrisi and Rhiannon Giddens, along with other Irish and American musicians.
“$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam”
This is wrong. This was for more than electric vehicles. USAID launched a $2.5 million fund that provided awards up to $100,000 to organizations with promising new products, business models, or financing models in Danang or Ho Chi Minh cities. The fund was part of a larger effort to bring green energy to a country that is one of the world’s fastest-growing per capita greenhouse gas emitters. China has a head start on green energy, but the United States has sought to keep Vietnam out of China’s orbit, so the program was intended to boost the U.S. brand in green energy.

Do you approve of that spending? Are you just finding a few that you think are innocuous and pretending that all of the spending is such? And are you not aware that USAID is getting merged into the State Department where worthy spending will still happen? You basically put yourself in the position of objecting to the elimination of truly wasteful spending.

 

[Orangecat]

Deadline: White House on MSNBC with Nicolle Wallace

Watch Deadline White House today at MSNBC. Nicole Wallace covers white house news, briefings and lockdowns. Hear the latest white house breaking news.

www.msnbc.com

I realize what the reflexive response will be considering the interview took place on MSNBC. If you can get past that you can judge for yourself whether Andrew Natsios, the USAID administrator under George Bush, has something of value to say. You can skip to roughly the 2 minute mark of the interview.

I think he offers some valuable insight in to the work of the agency you don't hear about over the din of vitriol about Musk, his lack of authority to do what he's doing, and his obvious conflicts of interest.

$36,000,000,000,000 in debt. Shut it down and move on to the next bloated federal pig.

 

[toobfreak]

Watch this interview with a bedrock Republican Bush appointee who once ran USAID.​

No thanks. At best, his experiences are 20-25 years old and have little or no bearing on the agency today.

 

[hadit]

WHY are we funding Irish concerts at all?
WHY are we giving our tax money for advances in Vietnam?

You think this is a flex but most people hate this. HATE IT

Especially when we have a truly monstrous debt that is grabbing ever larger chunks of the federal budget just to maintain the interest payments. We HAVE to get a handle on the spending and cut what's unnecessary. I think TRUMP! and Elon did this the right way, by exposing the most ridiculous spending first so that anyone objecting will look foolish as they protest eliminating them.

 

[Seymour Flops]

The list of "waste and abuse" the WH provided is pure fiction.

“$47,000 for a ‘transgender opera’ in Colombia”
This is wrong. USAID did not fund this. The White House appears to be referring to a $25,000 State Department grant to Universidad De Los Andes in Bogotá to stage an opera, “As One,” composed by Laura Kaminsky, an American. The rest of the money came from other sources, according to Juana Monsalve, the lead actress in the Colombian performances. “This is a well-known opera in the U.S., highly acclaimed by audiences,” Monsalve told a radio show in Spanish. “The last thing I expected was to hear those statements from the White House.”
“$32,000 for a ‘transgender comic book’ in Peru”
This is wrong. USAID did not fund this, and it was not specifically transgender. Instead, the grant says the State Department provided $32,000, under the guise of public diplomacy, to Peru’s Education Department “to cover expenses to produce a tailored-made comic, featured an LGBTQ+ hero to address social and mental health issues.”

It’s not fiction.


Even if all you say above is true, regardless of whether USA ID or its parent agency, the state department funded the money, the money was still spent and on projects that typical Americans would never choose over helping homeless vets or American infrastructure.

The people voted for Trump in part because they are tired of these self appointed elite snobs deciding what to do with their money and saying “oh well you just don’t understand.”

 

[berg80]

They are NOT lies. Your "refutations" are just.....well....no EXACTLY.

I don't understand why any American...not a one....would endorse this stuff. But you can, you know. Send these projects a big fat check. Which one will you support PERSONALLY with your money?

Do tell us

You don't think the WH thought it was necessary to lie in order to convince folks like you that Musk was actually doing something meaningful, do you?

 

[Couchpotato]

Deadline: White House on MSNBC with Nicolle Wallace

Watch Deadline White House today at MSNBC. Nicole Wallace covers white house news, briefings and lockdowns. Hear the latest white house breaking news.

www.msnbc.com

I realize what the reflexive response will be considering the interview took place on MSNBC. If you can get past that you can judge for yourself whether Andrew Natsios, the USAID administrator under George Bush, has something of value to say. You can skip to roughly the 2 minute mark of the interview.

I think he offers some valuable insight in to the work of the agency you don't hear about over the din of vitriol about Musk, his lack of authority to do what he's doing, and his obvious conflicts of interest.

Is anyone saying that USAID doesnt do anything of value? Because I've not heard that.

 

[berg80]

The Republican said that when he took over USAID under Bush, he made a lot of changes - and - the career people DID NOT RESIST. His exact words. So he knows that the career people are resisting Trump as they did in his first term.

Changes to policy priorities under Bush are not what trump/Musk are doing. They are trying to shutter the agency. Are you so blind as to not see the difference?

“$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt”

This is wrong. This initiative was launched in the first Trump administration to “increase educational opportunities and strengthen the livelihoods of the people of North Sinai,” according to the citation provided by the White House. The money would “provide access to transportation for rural communities and economic livelihood programming for families.” There is no mention of funding tourism.

If there is so much fraud and waste why all the lies?

 

[berg80]

Is anyone saying that USAID doesnt do anything of value? Because I've not heard that.

Maybe it's just me, but trying to stop funding of USAID would make it difficult for it to function.....don't you think?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials working with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency sought access to the U.S. Department of Treasury payment system to stop money from flowing to the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to two people familiar with the matter.

DOGE’s efforts to stop USAID payments undermine assurances that the department gave to federal lawmakers in a Tuesday letter that it sought only to review the integrity of the payments and had “read-only access” to the system as part of an audit process.

The two people familiar with the matter spoke Thursday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

DOGE was tasked with stopping Treasury payments to USAID, AP sources say

Officials working with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency sought access to the Treasury Department payment system to stop money from flowing to the U.S.

apnews.com

 

[struth]

From the article I linked to in my previous post.

“$70,000 for production of a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland”
This is wrong. This was a State Department grant, not USAID. In 2022, the U.S. ambassador hosted an event featuring Grammy-winning folk duo Francesco Turrisi and Rhiannon Giddens, along with other Irish and American musicians.
“$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam”
This is wrong. This was for more than electric vehicles. USAID launched a $2.5 million fund that provided awards up to $100,000 to organizations with promising new products, business models, or financing models in Danang or Ho Chi Minh cities. The fund was part of a larger effort to bring green energy to a country that is one of the world’s fastest-growing per capita greenhouse gas emitters. China has a head start on green energy, but the United States has sought to keep Vietnam out of China’s orbit, so the program was intended to boost the U.S. brand in green energy.

That's not answering his question....what are your thoughts on that waste, for example what are your thoughts on US taxpayers paying $70K for a musical in Germany or millions on green energy in Vietnam...not that we did it.

 

[struth]

Changes to policy priorities under Bush are not what trump/Musk are doing. They are trying to shutter the agency. Are you so blind as to not see the difference?

“$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt”

This is wrong. This initiative was launched in the first Trump administration to “increase educational opportunities and strengthen the livelihoods of the people of North Sinai,” according to the citation provided by the White House. The money would “provide access to transportation for rural communities and economic livelihood programming for families.” There is no mention of funding tourism.

If there is so much fraud and waste why all the lies?

Yes, that's the Trump admin change in policy. What part of taht don't you grasp?

 

[berg80]

Great. If 32K is "not low", then give that to USAID.

What's stopping you, if it's so worthy?

Tell us when you donate

When Elon Musk set about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” as he put it, it wasn’t only supporters of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda who were cheering the dismantlement of the foreign aid agency.

The Kremlin was, too.

“Smart move,” Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who is currently the deputy chair of the country’s security council, chimed in from Moscow, which for years had chafed at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s actions before forcing it out of the country in 2012.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is closely aligned with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, celebrated what he called an end to the funding of “globalist” organizations in a Facebook post Tuesday. Orban’s political director said he “couldn’t be happier” with what Musk and Trump were doing. (Musk reposted the comment Tuesday).

Foreign strongmen cheer as Musk dismantles U.S. aid agency | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

When Elon Musk set about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” as he put it, it wasn’t only supporters of President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda who were cheering the dismantlement of the foreign aid agency.

www.staradvertiser.com

At least trump's fan club likes what he's doing.

 

[Seymour Flops]

Changes to policy priorities under Bush are not what trump/Musk are doing. They are trying to shutter the agency. Are you so blind as to not see the difference?

Shuttering the agency IS a change policy priority. Sure, it is a much greater change that Bush switching from Clinton propaganda to Republican propaganda.

Are you saying that this greater change gives career employees the right or duty to resist?

“$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt”

This is wrong. This initiative was launched in the first Trump administration to “increase educational opportunities and strengthen the livelihoods of the people of North Sinai,” according to the citation provided by the White House. The money would “provide access to transportation for rural communities and economic livelihood programming for families.” There is no mention of funding tourism.

If there is so much fraud and waste why all the lies?

I don’t know that they are lies. It’s just you apparently copying and pasting something and not citing a source. Where did you get your info?

Link or no credibility.

Even if what you say is true, that’s still not what the American taxpayers elected Trump to keep paying for.