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Emily's avatar
10hEdited

Using "fraud, waste, and abuse" as a cover for the massive gutting of agencies has just been insulting - it ignores the many people and agencies who have worked for decades to specifically address the mismanagement and theft of federal funds (the rate of fraud, waste, and abuse in the public sector is far *lower* than in the private sector) and it's like saying the solution to an infection in your right pinky toe is to cut off both of your legs (because you certainly can't get an infected toe if you don't have ANY toes left). The Pentagon has never passed an audit, but the BBB gave an additional $150 BILLION toward defense spending, while stripping funds away from programs like SNAP and Medicaid, which have a fraud rate of <1% and 5% respectively and contribute significantly to the overall health (and yes, economic productivity) of our friends and neighbors. Caring about fraud, waste, and abuse means caring about investing funds in a way that maximizes the return on that investment, as Gabe so clearly laid out here.

This administration's actions betray their claims to care about fraud as a cover for simply spending that money on things they actually care about.

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Claire's avatar
8hEdited

I work in the humanitarian field and will be the first to say there is so much room for improvement, but to claim that there is nothing to show for the last several decades of USAID is absolute rubbish. I used to feel such pride seeing the American flag with "from the American people" on hospitals, schools, pumps providing clean water, etc., and having conversations with countless health care providers, beneficiaries, community members who saw the effects this funding was having in their communities. Now being on the other end of the spectrum having to explain why we need to close malnutrition centers providing life-saving care to children under 5, defend my life's work and those delivering care in the hardest of circumstances from folks who are telling us that USAID and similar are nothing but fraud, waste and abuse is absolutely heartbreaking. I can give you many ways to make our money go farther, reduce misappropriation, and all the other aims of DOGE/this administration, but nobody is asking those who know. And this certainly was not it.

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