USAID funding - sad conversation

[Anonymous]

I had a discussion recently with a very good and intelligent friend who was happy about the elimination of USAID funding for medical care. He said that we should be taking care of our own people and let non profits take care of others. I said we do take care of our own people and as the wealthiest country in the world we should be helping the poorest to some extent. He continued to disagree until I actually presented him with some facts. First, the US government spends almost $2 trillion a year on Medicare, Medicaid etc. USAID medical care was about $7 billion or less than 1/2 of one percent on what the US government spends on its own people. He thought I was full of BS so he pulled up his IPad and went to ChatGPT and my numbers were very close. Then he switched gears to corruption with USAID and I said you don’t think corruption exists in US health care? It’s sad when very intelligent people have very strong beliefs but no facts. I doubt if I changed his mind but my guess is that most members of congress who voted down USAID don’t know the numbers either.

[Anonymous]

It’s hard but you can’t teach people to care about other people. The ones who don’t will find every excuse in the world (often false ones) to justify not caring.

[Anonymous]

Yeah. And diseases travel. Keeping people healthy far away is also good for us here in the US but noone seems to get that.

[Anonymous]

It's insanity that USAID was eliminated even if you only care about us cititzens on us soil

[Anonymous]

Hey, good news everyone. Did you know that you can donate to non profits that provide medical care to poor people in developing countries? I just found out. Before now, I thought it could only be done with my tax dollars, and distributed in a manipulative way that advanced U.S. foreign policy.

Anyway, now that I know this, I guess I can still help people who are less fortunate than I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, good news everyone. Did you know that you can donate to non profits that provide medical care to poor people in developing countries? I just found out. Before now, I thought it could only be done with my tax dollars, and distributed in a manipulative way that advanced U.S. foreign policy.

Anyway, now that I know this, I guess I can still help people who are less fortunate than I am.

There are plenty of non profits helping in poor countries but they will never make up for the cut in US funding. Also, the US had pretty good leverage in those countries, far more than the non profits. Good work is being done by groups such as Save the Children but they can only do so much. Finally, a lot of non profits had funding from USAID but now that money is gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, good news everyone. Did you know that you can donate to non profits that provide medical care to poor people in developing countries? I just found out. Before now, I thought it could only be done with my tax dollars, and distributed in a manipulative way that advanced U.S. foreign policy.

Anyway, now that I know this, I guess I can still help people who are less fortunate than I am.

There are plenty of non profits helping in poor countries but they will never make up for the cut in US funding. Also, the US had pretty good leverage in those countries, far more than the non profits. Good work is being done by groups such as Save the Children but they can only do so much. Finally, a lot of non profits had funding from USAID but now that money is gone.

Surely all the good liberals in this country will put their money where their mouth is and write checks. No? Only if the IRS demands? Hmmm.

To quote Bernie Sanders regarding his abysmal rate of charitable giving "We do what we do."

[Anonymous]

USAID was soft power, and gave us a way to influence foreign policy, in our own interest. It helped keep the US at the negotiation table, and now it's just China and Russia. We just walked away from key relations with foreign governments that took years to build. It is heartbreaking that people in these countries relied on our leadership, especially in human rights and democracy. And we just walked away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USAID was soft power, and gave us a way to influence foreign policy, in our own interest. It helped keep the US at the negotiation table, and now it's just China and Russia. We just walked away from key relations with foreign governments that took years to build. It is heartbreaking that people in these countries relied on our leadership, especially in human rights and democracy. And we just walked away.

+1

[Anonymous]

Oh here we go:

Them: We should focus on care in the US and not spending it all over the place.

Us: OK! Let's have universal health care and free school lunch!

Them: That's socialism!

OP, like a PP said, there are people who do not care about others. You can't fix them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, good news everyone. Did you know that you can donate to non profits that provide medical care to poor people in developing countries? I just found out. Before now, I thought it could only be done with my tax dollars, and distributed in a manipulative way that advanced U.S. foreign policy.

Anyway, now that I know this, I guess I can still help people who are less fortunate than I am.

There are plenty of non profits helping in poor countries but they will never make up for the cut in US funding. Also, the US had pretty good leverage in those countries, far more than the non profits. Good work is being done by groups such as Save the Children but they can only do so much. Finally, a lot of non profits had funding from USAID but now that money is gone.

Surely all the good liberals in this country will put their money where their mouth is and write checks. No? Only if the IRS demands? Hmmm.

To quote Bernie Sanders regarding his abysmal rate of charitable giving "We do what we do."

I used to be a fed. I generally trust the federal government. I don't believe much of my tax dollars are being "wasted". The people that are pro tax cuts often are the luckiest, stupidest, and most selfish among my acquaintances. Sometimes all 3. I would rather channel my charity through a larger entity. If only to keep my name and address hidden from the charity. I had one follow me for 15 years after a $200 donation without any further gift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh here we go:

Them: We should focus on care in the US and not spending it all over the place.

Us: OK! Let's have universal health care and free school lunch!

Them: That's socialism!

OP, like a PP said, there are people who do not care about others. You can't fix them.

+1 These same people have no interest in hearing about why increased tax cuts to billionaires are problematic and about the billions occurring in grift to cronies of the current administrations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh here we go:

Them: We should focus on care in the US and not spending it all over the place.

Us: OK! Let's have universal health care and free school lunch!

Them: That's socialism!

OP, like a PP said, there are people who do not care about others. You can't fix them.

The people who really annoy me are those who say they don’t give to charity because they pay taxes. It’s not worth debating someone over that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey, good news everyone. Did you know that you can donate to non profits that provide medical care to poor people in developing countries? I just found out. Before now, I thought it could only be done with my tax dollars, and distributed in a manipulative way that advanced U.S. foreign policy.

Anyway, now that I know this, I guess I can still help people who are less fortunate than I am.

There are plenty of non profits helping in poor countries but they will never make up for the cut in US funding. Also, the US had pretty good leverage in those countries, far more than the non profits. Good work is being done by groups such as Save the Children but they can only do so much. Finally, a lot of non profits had funding from USAID but now that money is gone.

Surely all the good liberals in this country will put their money where their mouth is and write checks. No? Only if the IRS demands? Hmmm.

To quote Bernie Sanders regarding his abysmal rate of charitable giving "We do what we do."

I give a six figure number every year to the charities that do this work. But my taxes keep going up regardless. Mainly to fund grift by multibilliionaries, I think. Also, I actually trust the US government wonderful AID workers to police that the money is being spent in a productive way. I don't know why MAGA folks hate the US so much -- but, contrary to what the MAGAs say -- in fact our US government workers are (were?) the best in the world at what they do (did?) and provided funds with more transparency and protections against fraud/abuse than any other source in the world. I'm sad to see that go. Also, if you think those diseases aren't going to cross over into the US, you're sorely naive on that front. Helping to control disease outbreaks where they often can gain a strong footing (in poorer countries) is critically important to limit the spread here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USAID was soft power, and gave us a way to influence foreign policy, in our own interest. It helped keep the US at the negotiation table, and now it's just China and Russia. We just walked away from key relations with foreign governments that took years to build. It is heartbreaking that people in these countries relied on our leadership, especially in human rights and democracy. And we just walked away.

I agree. Every year I visit Africa and visit the poorest of the poor on a mission trip. Many live in mud huts with no electricity, running water or medical care. For many, USAID was a life line for food and some medical care. No doubt that many countries became too reliant on USAID and haven’t stepped up on their own. And, no doubt, some government officials skimmed some of the money.