USAID Scandal

 

The U.S. government is like a barrel on the brink of a waterfall, unable to sustain its $36 trillion debt. For two decades, we've seen endless cycles of inaction and an outcry over wasteful spending, only to approve more funds for comfort. The major question on my mind is how much of the spending has been put in the pockets of our elected officials as kickbacks or bribes.  How much has been placed in the pockets of our enemies, the terrorists who wish us harm? It’s time for tough decisions — real leaders must act decisively against our fiscal crisis.  The Fiscal Crisis is being overturned right before our eyes by President Trump and his team over at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). What’s funny is this, those on the left screaming about the abuse of Trump and Musk is the tip of the iceberg of those who have been lining their pockets with taxpayer funds all these years and they don’t want their money funnel to be cut off or they’ll not be able to support themselves and their cronies anymore. What’s happening reminds me of the Movie “Dave”!

Have you ever seen the movie “Dave” Staring Kevin Kline? If not you should watch it because you’re living through it right now. Here’s the premise of the movie:

“Dave's (Kevin Kline) appearance goes well, but Mitchell (the Real President) suffers a major stroke while having sex with Randi (Mistress). His Chief of Staff, Bob Alexander, (Frank Langella) is inspired to ask Dave to continue in his role. Bob's scheme is to force Vice President Gary Nance to resign by embroiling him in a savings and loan scandal; then Dave, acting as Mitchell, will appoint Bob vice president; then Dave will fake a more serious stroke and Bob will become president. Communications Director Alan Reed is initially hesitant but eventually acquiesces and tells the press corps the stroke was minor. Claiming that Nance is mentally unstable, Bob and Alan convince Dave he must continue impersonating Mitchell for the good of the country. Nance is sent on a goodwill tour of Africa.

Dave's charm and enthusiasm improves Mitchell's image and popularity. First Lady Ellen Mitchell, (Sigourney Weaver) who has been estranged from her husband for years, initially suspects nothing and treats Dave with contempt on the few occasions they see each other. When she sees Dave's empathy towards a shy boy at a homeless shelter for which she is a staunch advocate, she begins to soften towards him. Her fury returns, though, after Bob forges Mitchell's signature on the veto of a bill that included funding for the shelter. Dave, after consulting his accountant friend Murray Blum, (Charles Grodin) works with the Cabinet to restore the funding. A furious Bob threatens to destroy Dave, but Alan vows to expose their scheme if he does and all three of them will end up in jail.

Ellen, having witnessed Dave's considerable efforts to save the shelter, tricks him into admitting he's an impostor and asks him to see her husband. Dave has Duane escort them to a secret hospital room beneath the White House, where Mitchell remains in a coma. They are told he won't recover. They both resolve to leave the White House, but after spending a night out alone together, they begin to fall in love. Ellen tells Dave she's gone along with the charade of a happy marriage because she thought that as First Lady, she could help people. Dave tells her he wishes he could.

The next day, Dave, still as Mitchell, calls a press conference, making Bob furious that Dave is no longer obeying him. Dave fires Bob, who in turn tries to fire him, but Dave dares Bob to tell the press about the switch. At the press conference, Dave announces a monumental plan to provide a job to every American who wants one.

Back to why I mention this movie. In the movie, Dave (Kevin Kline) Brings in his friend Murray Blum (Charles Grodin) the accountant, and asks him to do an audit on the Government's books to find the funding to restore the Shelter for the First Lady.  Blum goes through and finds that half the DoD contractors haven’t fulfilled their contracts and neither has a lot of the other so-called government contractors in various agencies. He also finds duplicates in various agencies that could save the government millions of dollars. He begins to start turning off the money trough and people, politicians, and senior advisors begin to go nuts. Sound familiar? 

Well, guess what, this is exactly what President Trump did when he hired Elon Musk to audit the OMB Budget and the budgets of various agencies. He’s finding out that most programs are false and contracts that we’ve been paying for all these years haven’t been fulfilled as of yet, but we’re still paying for them year after year.

I’m sorry when we have fellow Americans living on the street or who are homeless why the hell have, we spent $70,000 funding a play in Ireland about diversity, equity, and inclusion and $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru, or sending condoms to Gaza through USAID? I’ve always had a problem with the funding through USAID and my gut wasn’t wrong, it’s not a humanitarian agency like we’ve all been led to believe, it’s a funding house for pork projects for our elected officials to look good. About time we turn off the money laundering faucet and reduce our deficit once and for all then start taking care of our own people.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Ashford University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week.