Closing USAID

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make no mistake. MAGA wants USAID destroyed because of Russian propaganda.

Please clarify, as your post is unclear. Was USAID promoting democracy and free markets inside Russia or is that claim Russian propaganda?

I doubt USAID were active in russia by the time of that tweet. But russia was and still is allergic to any democracy anywhere. Great move from musk removing USAID website so people who only heard of USAID by name cannot go and see what projects they were actually supporting. It has ripple effects on contractors worldwide, but also on US manufacturers and consultants / contractors here. USAID projects had to procure US made IT and other items. Well, guess now China with the silk and road initiative, their influence, and procurement preferences will swoop in where the US stopped.

Meant road and belt initiative. This opinion expresses it well:
https://news.cornell.edu/media-relations/tip-sheets/usaid-closure-only-winners-are-china-and-russia

Thank you posting the link. I have no doubt that you find that opinion sincerely insightful. In a similar vein, I find it wholly unpersuasive.

I don’t want to be in a civilizational struggle with China and Russia. I don’t care if China, Russia, Nigeria, Mexico or Poland are the “winners”. I am not sure anybody can fully articulate the price of “winning” or the prize for “winning”.

I really don’t care about sponsoring foreign students in the US as some glorified form of cultural exchange or extension of US soft power.

I DO care about sponsoring American students in the USA.

I REALLY care about my teenage son and preteen son never being drafted into some meaningless war over meaningless land in far off places because people like the professor think global civilizational struggles are important. We tried that garbage in the 1960s/70s because people were afraid the USSR was going to be the “winner” in some small meaningless strip of jungle in Southeast Asia. How did that work out?

Give me fortress America. For those of you that really care about Russia and China winning or losing, please, please sign your sons and daughters up to fight and wear that risk. Don’t drag the rest of us into your empire building and glory seeking.

Maybe you are not, but russia and china absolutely are.

Why does this matter so much to you that we must put American lives and resources at risk? Why is worldwide civilizational struggle so important to you? Why would you risk American lives to fight wars over what exactly…Who is the worldwide leader?

I truly don’t understand this or the tangible benefits to our country of these entanglements.

Right? The United States is an island, totally safe from other countries (until we anger our neighbors enough by levying unprovoked tariffs against them).

That's what we thought until Pearl Harbor Day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make no mistake. MAGA wants USAID destroyed because of Russian propaganda.

Please clarify, as your post is unclear. Was USAID promoting democracy and free markets inside Russia or is that claim Russian propaganda?

I doubt USAID were active in russia by the time of that tweet. But russia was and still is allergic to any democracy anywhere. Great move from musk removing USAID website so people who only heard of USAID by name cannot go and see what projects they were actually supporting. It has ripple effects on contractors worldwide, but also on US manufacturers and consultants / contractors here. USAID projects had to procure US made IT and other items. Well, guess now China with the silk and road initiative, their influence, and procurement preferences will swoop in where the US stopped.

Meant road and belt initiative. This opinion expresses it well:
https://news.cornell.edu/media-relations/tip-sheets/usaid-closure-only-winners-are-china-and-russia

Thank you posting the link. I have no doubt that you find that opinion sincerely insightful. In a similar vein, I find it wholly unpersuasive.

I don’t want to be in a civilizational struggle with China and Russia. I don’t care if China, Russia, Nigeria, Mexico or Poland are the “winners”. I am not sure anybody can fully articulate the price of “winning” or the prize for “winning”.

I really don’t care about sponsoring foreign students in the US as some glorified form of cultural exchange or extension of US soft power.

I DO care about sponsoring American students in the USA.

I REALLY care about my teenage son and preteen son never being drafted into some meaningless war over meaningless land in far off places because people like the professor think global civilizational struggles are important. We tried that garbage in the 1960s/70s because people were afraid the USSR was going to be the “winner” in some small meaningless strip of jungle in Southeast Asia. How did that work out?

Give me fortress America. For those of you that really care about Russia and China winning or losing, please, please sign your sons and daughters up to fight and wear that risk. Don’t drag the rest of us into your empire building and glory seeking.

Maybe you are not, but russia and china absolutely are.

Why does this matter so much to you that we must put American lives and resources at risk? Why is worldwide civilizational struggle so important to you? Why would you risk American lives to fight wars over what exactly…Who is the worldwide leader?

I truly don’t understand this or the tangible benefits to our country of these entanglements.

USAID keeps us out of wars. It keeps illegal immigration down. It provides markets for US goods.

When we send food and drugs to these countries, who do you imagine is receiving the money? It’s Americans. American farmers and American pharma. Just like defense benefits American companies.

It’s fine to question that but it’s never been a secret and Musk is taking illegal action. Needs to go through congress.

They are fine with American farmers going broke for lack of markets. They should have planned better.

(My grandparents were farmers, as were DH's grandparents. The reason my parents weren't famers is because they know firsthand how hard the life is. PP has no idea.)

[Anonymous]

The freeze on USAID has stranded cargo ships full of food in US ports - $340 million worth, talk about waste. REPUBLICAN Senator from Kansas, Jerry Moran, is TWEETING at Marco Rubio to get those ships moving to the people who need the aid overseas before it all rots. (Don't Senators have each other's cell numbers?)

[Anonymous]

Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

Who? How would you identify them, how would you deliver the food to them? How much would it cost to set this up, how quickly could you do it?

Maybe it would make more sense to send this food on to where it has already been scheduled to go and spend $340 million of funds for domestic programs rather than rerouting goods purchased using funds appropriated for foreign aid. Maybe it wouldn't. Show us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

We have (or had) SNAP and other programs to do that.

[Anonymous]

USAID is some much cheaper vs fighting wars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The freeze on USAID has stranded cargo ships full of food in US ports - $340 million worth, talk about waste. REPUBLICAN Senator from Kansas, Jerry Moran, is TWEETING at Marco Rubio to get those ships moving to the people who need the aid overseas before it all rots. (Don't Senators have each other's cell numbers?)

Chickens are coming home to roost.

I guess Musk and MAGA don’t realize that USAID $$ go to the American heartland. Congrats Trump!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

Okay, fine. Buy it and then distribute it. But it's not free. The US government already paid for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

Yeah, I'm sure they want bags of wheat.

The program is called "Food for Peace" and it's been around since the 1950's.

You can read about it here - https://www.usaid.gov/usaid-food-assistance-overview

Sorry, you can't, because the website has been destroyed. You know, following proper auditing procedures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

This isn't packaged ready to eat food. It's bags of grains, peanut meal etc. it get distributed via organizations to place that prepare it and to villages etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

Yeah, I'm sure they want bags of wheat.

The program is called "Food for Peace" and it's been around since the 1950's.

You can read about it here - https://www.usaid.gov/usaid-food-assistance-overview

Sorry, you can't, because the website has been destroyed. You know, following proper auditing procedures.

I'd take as many free bags of wheat/flour as I can get. We bake our own bread and my family would benefit tremendously from food aid that we taxpayers paid for. Where do I sign up to get some?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USAID is some much cheaper vs fighting wars.

why would we need to fight wars? we have “shuttle diplomacy” and “diplomacy in action” @ State. And what happened to your “end/endless wars” bumper sticker in support of Cindy Sheehan et al.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

This isn't packaged ready to eat food. It's bags of grains, peanut meal etc. it get distributed via organizations to place that prepare it and to villages etc.

Who cares about the wheat? Just give them the money. I know, crazy idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crazy idea: we distribute that $340 million of food aid to hungry Americans.

This isn't packaged ready to eat food. It's bags of grains, peanut meal etc. it get distributed via organizations to place that prepare it and to villages etc.

plenty of rural Americans know what to do with those bags unlike someone from N Arlington