DOGE cuts USAID

(a perspective from those in favor of the cuts)

Meanwhile, on the Dem side of the fence there’s a very different reaction to the same set of events:

Also interesting is to compare this overall approach with what I mentioned to be the purpose of The Fence - to carefully consider all viewpoints before making change. Clearly what the current administration is doing is the opposite of that. I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, I do think that corruption runs really deep and hides within the sprawling labyrinth of bureacracy. For instance, consider Glenn Greenwald’s coverage of USAID, revealing that this organization has been used to start “color revolutions” and overthrow governments around the world, and that USAID has worked hand in glove with the CIA to achieve their various agendas. Most of the Ukrainian media I am hearing was funded by USAID, which reveals how Americans could have had such a delusional understanding of what was going on in that region. Compare your understanding with The Duran for instance, or Scott Ritter, or the Grayzone.

  1. We’re not winning. Russia has the upper hand here.
  2. We provoked the shit out of Putin leading up to this including 1) the Maidan Coup, 2) putting rockets in the hands of neo-nazis who were bombing the Russian speaking Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine, and 3) threatening to bring the Ukraine into NATO.
  3. The Biden administration in their final days approved launch of a rocket into a Russian powerplant. (Yes, Ukrainians launched it, but the satellites that guide it to its destination are USA.) The only reason we’re not in WWIII right now is a massive degree of restraint shown by Putin.

On the other hand, in argument of moving slower - yes the movement by the Trump administration is unprecedented. And they cannot possibly understand the follow on consequences of the programs they are dismantling. Let’s say this sort of behavior continues and sets a new trend for presidential administrations. We would have a back and forth tug of war that would tear the country apart. The business landscape would be completely unpredictable, with the regulatory environment and funding sources transforming wildly every 4 years. I think we need to find our way back to some sort of common ground that both the left and right can agree upon, and then close the pandora’s box of wealth and power transfer, not starting with Trump, but really going back to:

  • The War on Drugs, which was conducted as a war on the people, resulting in extreme levels of incarceration for non violent crimes
  • Clinton’s repeal of Glass Steagal
  • Bush, 9/11, The Patriot Act and the War on Terror
  • The TSA harassing people at the airports
  • Citizens United
  • The persecution of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange whose crimes were revealing the truth of the US administration’s criminality
  • Obamacare, which is legislation written by insurance companies and gives them everything they could possibly want
  • The war on Covid, through which was justified totalitarian control & surveillance of the American population, and medical experimentation on the entire population
  • The constant state of “emergencies” of various kinds, justifying unilateral presidential power

All of these are encroachments on the people’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To the degree that the current administration restores the peoples’ rights and eliminates these gross overreaches, I agree with them. To the degree that they fail, and instead cover over and continue with overreach, I’m in opposition.

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The USAID investigation & (others slo-walked under Dem control) go back years before DOGE.

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Of course they have a different view! No offense here but they are being taken off the taxpayers tit? I’m shocked at the waist of trillions! I have a friend whose son is a Washington bureaucrat, he is very fearful and pissed off. I feel for him, he has two kids in a wonderful college and a beautiful home. Probably lives in the upper 2%. My friend says he is a hard worker but she’s not sure what he does. If he’s doing good work he has nothing to fear? If he’s part of the problem he can start over in life, I did. We only want accountability for what you do all day. Any boss expects workers to do “work”? You get fired if you don’t work, duh.
And one more thing every elected president brings in people they trust to help them. They are all unelected officials. Our beloved country needed a quick clean up because we were a banana republic so going through congress would never work. I’m grateful for Trump, he’s not perfect, I don’t agree with him on everything and I’m sure he’ll screw some things up but what choice do we have? We were at the 11th hour of complete destruction. I’m excited and hopeful for a new America. Now let’s focus on clean air, food and water before we all die. lol
Blessings all​:purple_heart::us: