USAID activists say stopping 'corporate welfare' outweighs ending funds to terror-linked groups

Fox News ^ | Feb 5, 2025 | Aubrie Spady , Emma Woodhead

[where's_the_Outrage?]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Protesters rallying against the sweep of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) say that ending "corporate welfare" should be prioritized over looking at money being reportedly funneled to terror-linked groups.

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been conducting a review of "waste" identified within USAID, the government agency that handles the distribution of foreign aid.

According to an analysis by the Middle East Forum, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the USAID and State Department have funneled at least $122 million to groups aligned with designated terrorists and their supporters. A White House report also identified $15 million of taxpayer dollars being spent on condoms for the Taliban, a known terrorist group.

On Wednesday, Fox News Digital asked individuals protesting the USAID cuts outside the U.S. Capitol their thoughts about the agency reportedly funding terrorist-aligned groups.

"I don't want to hear anything about funding until we stop corporate welfare," one protester, who was wearing a mask, told Fox News Digital.

"I think before we talk about funding that we're sending off to other countries or devoting to poor people in this country that need help," he added, "we need to talk about the billions in subsidies that we give to corporations like Tesla" ......

Asked about funding to terrorist-linked groups, Michael, a member of Veterans for Peace, said, "Funding has to be looked at, but I would suspect that that's a very small minority of the funding that the U.S. does."

"Foreign aid is less than 1% of the U.S. budget. So it's a very small monetary number," he added. "And like all programs, it needs to be evaluated every so often. And I think that the small number of programs who supposedly are connected with unsavory type groups are in the minority."

[where's_the_Outrage?]

LOL, so it's only a small piece of the budget. But real to real people, a million dollars is a lot of money. And giving away millions to other countries instead of kickbacks to Americans is just not right, even to a liberal.

Just wait until the real kickbacks to politicians and all the leftist organizations are specifically identified. It will also affect the Dem's "rentariot" capability.

[A_perfect_lady]

So funding entities that give Americans jobs and make up part of their retirement portfolios is worse than funding entities that will blow up Americans.

These people are IDIOTS!

[ComputerGuy]

Less than one percent of billions of dollars is still real money.

[Diogenesis]

[rlmorel]

My feeling is, why not do both?

I am not in any way anti-corporate, like these dweebs wearing their North Face jackets and Nike sneakers, typing their anti-corporate screeds on Apple laptops using a Cisco wireless network.

But that doesn’t mean that spending tax money we don’t have to fatten a corporate entity with government connections, I believe that should be eliminated as well.

There are a huge number of cases where both things can be done.

[Ezekiel]

There goes another one into The Bee’s circular file.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“But that doesn’t mean that spending tax money we don’t have to fatten a corporate entity with government connections, I believe that should be eliminated as well.”

Eliminate pharmaceutical commercials. Just like what was done to liquor and cigarettes on national media. They can still advertise on cable.

[Liz]

Thx......great list.

[BlackbirdSST]

Agree! Kill it all.

[Liz]

In fiscal year (FY) 2022, the United States committed $70.3 billion to foreign aid,
about 1% of the federal budget. The U.S. is the world’s largest donor of foreign aid.

How is foreign aid spent?
Economic development: About 41% of foreign aid in FY 2019 went to economic development programs

Security assistance:
About 35% of foreign aid in FY 2019 went to military and nonmilitary security assistance

Humanitarian activities:
About 20% of foreign aid in FY 2019 went to humanitarian activities

Multilateral institutions:
About 4% of foreign aid in FY 2019 went to support multilateral institutions

How is foreign aid delivered?
Most U.S. aid is provided through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rather than foreign governments

U.S. aid can take the form of cash transfers, equipment, commodities, infrastructure, education, training, or technical assistance

How is foreign aid accounted for?
The U.S. government has checks in place to minimize the risk of fraud and abuse

The office of the U.S. inspector general (IG) investigates misuse.

[BlackbirdSST]

How is foreign aid accounted for? The U.S. government has checks in place to minimize the risk of fraud and abuse The office of the U.S. inspector general (IG) investigates misuse.

FAIL!!!

[Liz]

How is foreign aid accounted for?
The U.S. govt has checks in place to minimize the risk of fraud and
abuse. The office of the U.S. inspector general (IG) investigates misuse.

---

Who knew the govt had a sense of humor?

[nopardons]

BTTT

[BlackbirdSST]

Who knew the govt had a sense of humor?

IKR!

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "My feeling is, why not do both?"

The government mechanism is very large. Do both, and more. The era of "free money" should end permanently. The nation will be better off for it.

Watching the recovery of Argentina under the pruning by Milei shows that such a "withering of the state" is good for an economy in the long run.

[eeriegeno]

It would be a good idea for DOGE to audit the accounts of 446 politicians, and their family members, to identify the final resting place of the USAID dollars.......

[GranTorino]

Kettering.org
Needs investigation.

[rlmorel]

"...Less than one percent of billions of dollars is still real money..."

Exactly.

I would like to make an analogy.

I liken our tax revenue stream to an irrigation pipe with holes in it.

The water comes from a source and is sent out the pipe to where it is going to be used.

But every small hole, every pipe joint leaks a little bit, and at each leak, "someone" is there with a container to gather the water. Some people have a thimble. Some people have a 500 gallon tank. But they are all taking some of that water.

By the time it gets to an area that needs irrigation, instead of a gallon of water sent equaling a gallon of water arriving, it may be a cup of water arriving.

And the people responsible for getting that water from point A to point B are getting paid to get it there, and are also taking water from the people siphoning it off at every step of the way in the form of water kickbacks.

And when the farmers, who paid good money to get water for the crops don't get the water they paid for and bring it up with the people who are responsible for getting it to them, those people shrug their shoulders and say "Gee. Sorry. Nothing we can do about it. We have so many leaks in the pipes, and we don't know where all that water is going."

All while knowing full well that the FARMER'S money THEY paid to HIM get water for the farmer's crops is being used by HIM to give to people as a form of currency to enrich them in the form of "leaks".

That is the US government and our tax dollars we pay in a nutshell.

That tax money we pay is meant to build our road, provide for our defense, secure our borders, pay for our education systems, etc. etc. etc.

Instead that money (water) we pay in taxes goes through that government pipe of irrigation, and gets siphoned off at every step along the way. There is a big spigot that goes to an entity like USAID, and it has its OWN set of leaking pipelines, corroding a pockmarked with holes that are fully and intentionally never fixed.

There is a bucket under each leak, some of it is kept by the person with the bucket, some of it is fed back to politicians funding and supporting USAID, and some of it simply falls out somewhere, and NOBODY knows exactly who scoops that up.

I heard something along that lines that if we give a million dollars to some corrupt African country for some endeavor such as medical development, only about a thousand dollars actually goes to helping people in hospital beds. All the rest is skimmed off before it ever gets there.

This process is happening at EVERY SINGLE PIPELINE OF MONEY TO ANYTHING THE GOVERNMENT IS SUPPOSED TO BE GIVING TAX DOLLARS TO.

Military. Welfare. Medical. Infrastructure. Education. Manufacturing. EVERYTHING.

And all that waste being siphoned off elicits a giant shrug from the government, because nobody can be found at fault, and nobody ever is held accountable.

What Trump is doing is sending his small team of young, bright men over to USAID, THE VERY BEATING AND UNACCOUNTABLE HEART OF THE DEEP STATE, and doing the equivalent of sending those young men out to survey the pipeline carrying that money (water) to find out where the leaks are.

And it is there that we are going to find out that money is being given to entities like Politico, the New York Times, and the Taliban, as well as LGQBT comic books in Ecuador, Trans Operas in Colombia, and Abortion Clinics in Africa or Minneapolis.

It is the equivalent of finding out that the water that you and I paid for with our hard-earned cash to nourish our crops is instead being siphoned off for someone to wash their car, fill their dog's swimming pool, or being sent back in tankers to the people WE trusted with that money with to provide US with water, which they then sell off to buy gigantic mansions in our country and abroad to stock with the best aged wines and cheap servants.

I love this. Just love it. I adore hearing the Leftists screeching long and loud about this, because these things are their gravy train, and Trump is going right to the source.

And that is money. Just imagine what they are going to find out information-wise once Kash Patel gets into the FBI, if he is confirmed. It is why they have made denying Kash Patel the FBI Directorship the hill they are going to die on.

Good. I hope they die on that hill.

[FlingWingFlyer]

What about politician welfare? When are the taxpayers going to be able to stop having to feed those freeloading scumbags?

[Diogenesis]

PANIC:

https://media.128ducks.com/file_store/a1dcb1b005703ad61b5f8270b8598582243116a6effc1ff984993804a35ba6e2.mp4