Foreign Aid – New Thinking
Our current President is under Impeachment for putting conditions on payment of foreign aid to the Ukraine. This is the same Ukraine that has a long history of corruption. Guess he did not get the memo.
Like many members of Congress and the general public, I am shocked and dismayed. I had grown so comfortable in my expectation that United States Foreign Aid was just a rat hole for Taxpayer Dollars that was bottomless and non-accountable. And, pretty much the same under both Democratic and Republican Administrations.
I have accepted as fact that Foreign Aid and similar payments were distributed in a more traditional way, like the last Administration did: Put 1.3 Billion or more Dollars on pallets in cash, – cash is especially welcome when delivered with non-sequential serial numbered, unmarked bills – shrink wrapped to the pallet(s), decorated with a ribbon and delivered to the destination country – (like Iran’s – Tehran Airport) – in the middle of the night along with a gift card, no conditions and no expectation of reciprocal good will.
Well, we can always expect that the recipient Country will vote against us at the United Nations. That is historically the customary “Thank You” the U.S. has come to expect from the beneficiary’s of our generosity.
Another way that I have come to expect large amounts of Aid to be distributed happened in 1993 When Haiti was devastated by an Earthquake and some 13 Billion Dollars was pledged to help rebuild the country. Several Billion of those dollars was funneled – dare I say “Flushed” – through the Clinton Foundation for rebuilding housing and infrastructure. Little housing was built and the infrastructure remained in shambles but the money vanished. (search: Grifters: The Clinton Crime Family).
And, after all, we do have some historical context for aid to the Ukraine. The previous Administration gave them a Billion Dollars in Aid. We know it got there. Our former Vice Presidents son kept his job on the Governing Board of Ukraine’s largest Oil and Natural Gas Company. The money goes into the system. It gets “laundered”, it does the “Hokey Pokey”, the “right” people get paid and paid off. It’s just the way that Foreign Aid is supposed to work. Nothing wrong and nothing to see here!
One gets used to the idea that these unconditional Foreign Aid dollars will just end up in the pockets of Despots, Dictators, corrupt Contractors, Foreign Bureaucrats and other thieves. No questions asked and no accountability required.
An International “Comfort Zone” for our Taxpayer Dollars.
Guess I am an old fashioned guy, married to the tradition that accountability is not something Government is good at or wants to put into practice.
OR
Maybe, just maybe – should we put some kind of restrictions on our largess? Or – is that just crazy talk?
Bob Bandy – January 2020
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
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