Another incredible example of wasted taxpayer dollars has been brought to light--the United States has been sending "foreign aid" money to China.
That's right--China. Perhaps President Obama is spending too much time out of the office?
Remember, China is the second largest, and world's fastest growing, economy, clocking in at 9 percent last year--while the U.S., the world's largest economy [for now], barely eked out 1.3 percent in the second quarter of this year--with all indicators pointing to the real possibility of a double-dip recession.
To add insult to injury, China is the largest holder of U.S. national debt--they own $1 trillion of our $14.7 trillion national debt.
The amount of direct aid is stated as "tens of millions" [of dollars], but with China receiving even more aid from international institutions to which the U.S. contributes, according to a FOXNews article today.
Can it be true that the country responsible for "taking" two-thirds of U.S. manufacturing jobs--because they are far more business friendly than the U.S.--is still receiving tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in the form of foreign aid?
Understandably, this has lawmakers from both camps up in arms--with voting taxpayers sure to follow.
"Why in the world would we be borrowing money and then turn around and giving it back to the countries that we're borrowing it from?" Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said. "If they have enough of a surplus to loan us money, they have enough of a surplus to take care of their own needs."
Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia asked the same question in a recent appearance on Fox News: "Hey, in the crisis that we're in right now, should we really be continuing to send American taxpayer dollars over to China for these purposes?"
"I think the Chinese are just laughing whenever they receive a check," said Dan Ikenson, a trade economist at the CATO Institute. "How silly this is of the United States to be subsidizing the faster-growing, second-largest economy in the world."
So why did we start giving aid in the first place?
“The hope and the operating assumption is that to the extent that we engage them in a variety of ways, that we can stay influential. And we can influence them," Dan Runde of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
But Runde notes China's record of flaunting trade rules -- violating intellectual property laws, including multiple openings of fake Apple stores there recently, as well as patent infringements. He suggests the aid has had little positive impact.
To put it in perspective, in fiscal year 2009, the U.S. government allocated the following amounts to foreign aid: $13.7 billion for military assistance, $33.9 billion for economic assistance, of which $11.7 billion was for USAID assistance.
The $11.7 billion foreign aid budget is managed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, under executive order. Its purpose was to "extend a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, recover from a disaster or striving to live in a free and democratic country...in the areas authorized by the Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961."
As a matter of fact, USAID receives it foreign policy [money allocation] directives from the U.S. State Department, now controlled by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton (D-NY)--who receives her marching orders directly from President Obama.
According to the above "founding definition" of USAID's mission--China does not fit into ANY of the categories to receive U.S. Foreign Aid.
Is it unthinkable that with "management and oversight" being provided by a permanent and contract staff of 3,300 people, that "tens of millions of dollars" in foreign aid could be "consciously" sent to China--without anyone questioning it?
And if someone in USAID did question it, which supervisor or manager would ignore this obvious, perverted irony?
This is yet another startling example of the fact that the entire federal government has become a bloated set of "fiefdoms", born from politician's need to create monuments to their own outsized egos, and operated with no regard for efficiency, performance or proper diligence for spending taxpayer money.
There is only one "cure" for this situation--the federal government must be severely cut back in size, like a "Cat 3" tree trimming here in Florida, where all tree branches are cut back to the point where they can withstand Category 3 Hurricane winds of 130 miles per hour--that's a lot of cutting.
Thanks to the Tea Party, relentless hurricane force "winds of change" will descend upon Washington, D.C. in January 2013, to get the job done, quickly and completely--removing the "dead wood" for good, beginning with Barack H. Obama.
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