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.
I never did understand what Musk was talking about when he called USAID a “criminal organization.” But certainly, the abrupt, irrational cuts to USAID that will result in so much suffering and death is a crime of immense magnitude. And taking that money and tripling or quadrupling it in order to inflict more ICE terror and cruelty, as we read about yesterday, is even more staggering. Our nation’s 250th birthday next year is looking less like a celebration and more and more like the death knell of everything I used to love about this country.
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.
When I read Marco Rubio wrote that USAID has had “little to show” for itself since the end of the Cold War, citing declining US approval ratings in recipient countries, I heard: “you didn’t say thank you.”
Everything everyone in this administration says is meaningless. It is all meant to conceal their true motive: profits over people.
I would hope journalists will take heed and begin reporting everyday, “boring” stories so the public (and maybe politicians) can see the good that is done over a long period of time. While better oversight of government charities is necessary, to make sweeping and sudden changes is not fruitful…only hurtful.
Unfortunately, most news organizations operate on a profit motive, and those that don’t are having their funding stripped away. Therefore I think we can only expect news to get more and more sensational, exhausting, and polarizing. Boring stories that give voters an accurate picture of their government won’t be told.
I’m not sure if it exists, and obviously we are not in an era where the political will is there, but I keep thinking about how we might be better off if each taxpayer got something like a $15 monthly voucher to be redeemed as a local newspaper subscription of their choosing. The goal would be not only to counteract the profit motive of engineering stories for social media clicks, but also reversing the trend of local newspapers disappearing.
And then wouldn’t it be nice if, like you said, we not only got a little bit of “breaking news” but also longterm investigative reporting, and looking back at stories that were important 6 months ago to follow up, and counteract the pressure of the news to forget about stories as this administration manipulates our attention spans?
Sorry for the essay response that got off on a tangent, but that’s what I love about The Preamble and organizations like it. If only lower income folks had access to news funded by paid subscription, we might have a more educated average voter less vulnerable to propaganda.
I wish the 24 hour news coverage stopped with their “breaking news” chyron at the bottom of the screen. I am not a marketing professional or journalist, but I am someone who is hungry for news and information. I wonder what would happen if these 24 hour stations would do talk show type stuff about stories like we just read. I know it would take more time and maybe more money to produce it. But wouldn’t it be nice if someone could do a deeper story on how USAID helped a particular family? I think viewers would be interested. I could be totally wrong though.
I do know that I can’t watch cable news hardly at all anymore. They say the same things over and over. I’m not getting new information!
I didn’t have cable in the early 2000s, so I don’t know that show. I did grow up on Oprah though and really miss that! Of course she had her celebrity guests and makeovers but she also had really interesting shows. That’s where I first about transgender people, sexual assault, trauma, diseases, money/budget problems and so many more issues. It wasn’t horrifying though because she had experts in health, psychiatry etc to help explain how to heal and deal with things. A lot of her guests were already on the other side of their trials. It was just informative. I had never heard of someone being transgender before, I was a child, and after watching the episode I was like oh, okay. It didn’t make me want to transition, it simply made me see that some people were born like that. I would love it if we could have shows like that again. Maybe we do and I don’t know where to watch?
This is why I adore Sharon’s podcast. I also think I saw somewhere that another government teacher/expert is going to have a show on PBS to explain things.
I do think the media might think we’re all morons! And with my smartphone addiction shrinking my attention span, I am slowly becoming one. I am trying to fight the demon within, read longer stories, and leave my phone in the other room. How am I going to help be the solution if I myself am a “zombie”.
Being aware of your phone usage and moderating it is 99% of the solution, I think. The zombies are the ones who are bumping full speed into me and my dogs on our neighborhood walks, unaware of the world around them.
I feel like using our phone is a compromise we will have to make, since network and cable tv are collapsing, soon our phones will probably be our only hope for a program that isnt playing to the lowest common denominator.
Agree! And while the cynical take is that there isn’t enough demand for that programming to be worth it, because not enough people want nuanced POVs, I tend to disagree. Those who are tuning out cable news might be lured back with the right kind of programming. I have all kinds of ideas for what this kind of show I would watch would be. For instance: Remember CNN’s Crossfire of the early 00s? I want something like that, except with substance, civility, and dialogue. Maybe undecided and diverse-political-spectrum participants conveying which arguments they found most convincing. Analyzing media for misinformation.
I work in the tv biz and my ideas for shows were always criticized for being too earnest and honest. But I wish they’d explore that need for genuine discussions that people have. Instead they are married to this idea that all viewers are morons. 😔
This American Life has done some good episodes on various issues and those are always my favorite episodes as they talk to people impacted by the events of the world. They talked to a USAID worker who was trying to figure out how to deal with the rug being pulled out from them.
Gabe! My daughters and I just came back from Kenya where we created a documentary on what is happening to PEPFAR - and have been sending our video to as many Senators as we can reach. Would you mind taking a look at this and adding to your article? Watch the 25 minute film here: https://youtu.be/qPk5MAlCyGM. We have also been trying to share to media outlets, but it has been a slow reception with the news cycles changing every second :(
I just watched! This is the type of story that needs to be shown on news outlets. I left a comment earlier about my frustration with the 24 hour news coverage. This was well done, not inflammatory, and had a call to action at the end. Thank you! I hope it gets widely shared.
“America first,” no matter the cost. There will be no diplomacy or humanitarian efforts. There will be tariffs, taunting, & “peace through strength.” I refuse to accept it, but I’m learning to expect it.
Thank you for this Gabe! I look forward to reading the Lancet piece. We hear so much from agencies that we feel are ineffective and so little from agencies that trudge along working well. We don’t realize the work they’re doing behind the scenes because there are no large, flashy errors or big wins highlighting their work. The government over selling small wins easily comes across as propaganda.
We are all on this planet together...the US is the richest country and we owe it to the rest of the world to HELP! This administration is just filled with horrible humans. SAD! And we definitely need to continue to point out what this administration is NOT doing/taking away...the media is really not doing a good job of that...(that's why we love you guys so much)!
I was a Safety Professional and proving the negative is so frustratingly difficult. But, the whole “America First” makes my blood boil. It seems the only thing we want to be first in is hatred for anything not straight, white, and male, and extra points for being wealthy. While cutting funding for USAID, they certainly didn’t turn around and spend that money in America to assist those without housing, food, or healthcare. They took that away, too.
Couldn't agree more. I have been heartsick about the cuts to USAID. I am a United Methodist pastor and we have a global church with many clergy and missionaries around the world. The devastation caused by these cuts is unconscionable. Women and children especially are dying as a result. We are the richest country in the world. Thank you for bringing this tragedy to the awareness of many. Let us be bold in contacting our elected leaders.
I pay roughly $265 a day in taxes. And wish more than anything that that money would go toward increasing the quality of life for as many people as possible rather than to increase the money making ability of corporations 😭 I don’t see how anyone could choose otherwise!
On a purely selfish read of USAID it’s helped all Americans in that certain diseases were completely eradicated in the world bc of efforts to vaccinate against those diseases in poorer countries. That’s not even talking about the fact that aid in other countries can lead to better infrastructure and prevent people having to immigrate to countries like ours.
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.
I never did understand what Musk was talking about when he called USAID a “criminal organization.” But certainly, the abrupt, irrational cuts to USAID that will result in so much suffering and death is a crime of immense magnitude. And taking that money and tripling or quadrupling it in order to inflict more ICE terror and cruelty, as we read about yesterday, is even more staggering. Our nation’s 250th birthday next year is looking less like a celebration and more and more like the death knell of everything I used to love about this country.
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.
I’m so, so sorry. I am hopeful we can get it going again in the future.
Claire, thank you for your service.
When I read Marco Rubio wrote that USAID has had “little to show” for itself since the end of the Cold War, citing declining US approval ratings in recipient countries, I heard: “you didn’t say thank you.”
Everything everyone in this administration says is meaningless. It is all meant to conceal their true motive: profits over people.
Do not be deceived by their words.
:(
I would hope journalists will take heed and begin reporting everyday, “boring” stories so the public (and maybe politicians) can see the good that is done over a long period of time. While better oversight of government charities is necessary, to make sweeping and sudden changes is not fruitful…only hurtful.
Unfortunately, most news organizations operate on a profit motive, and those that don’t are having their funding stripped away. Therefore I think we can only expect news to get more and more sensational, exhausting, and polarizing. Boring stories that give voters an accurate picture of their government won’t be told.
I’m not sure if it exists, and obviously we are not in an era where the political will is there, but I keep thinking about how we might be better off if each taxpayer got something like a $15 monthly voucher to be redeemed as a local newspaper subscription of their choosing. The goal would be not only to counteract the profit motive of engineering stories for social media clicks, but also reversing the trend of local newspapers disappearing.
And then wouldn’t it be nice if, like you said, we not only got a little bit of “breaking news” but also longterm investigative reporting, and looking back at stories that were important 6 months ago to follow up, and counteract the pressure of the news to forget about stories as this administration manipulates our attention spans?
Sorry for the essay response that got off on a tangent, but that’s what I love about The Preamble and organizations like it. If only lower income folks had access to news funded by paid subscription, we might have a more educated average voter less vulnerable to propaganda.
I wish the 24 hour news coverage stopped with their “breaking news” chyron at the bottom of the screen. I am not a marketing professional or journalist, but I am someone who is hungry for news and information. I wonder what would happen if these 24 hour stations would do talk show type stuff about stories like we just read. I know it would take more time and maybe more money to produce it. But wouldn’t it be nice if someone could do a deeper story on how USAID helped a particular family? I think viewers would be interested. I could be totally wrong though.
I do know that I can’t watch cable news hardly at all anymore. They say the same things over and over. I’m not getting new information!
I didn’t have cable in the early 2000s, so I don’t know that show. I did grow up on Oprah though and really miss that! Of course she had her celebrity guests and makeovers but she also had really interesting shows. That’s where I first about transgender people, sexual assault, trauma, diseases, money/budget problems and so many more issues. It wasn’t horrifying though because she had experts in health, psychiatry etc to help explain how to heal and deal with things. A lot of her guests were already on the other side of their trials. It was just informative. I had never heard of someone being transgender before, I was a child, and after watching the episode I was like oh, okay. It didn’t make me want to transition, it simply made me see that some people were born like that. I would love it if we could have shows like that again. Maybe we do and I don’t know where to watch?
This is why I adore Sharon’s podcast. I also think I saw somewhere that another government teacher/expert is going to have a show on PBS to explain things.
I do think the media might think we’re all morons! And with my smartphone addiction shrinking my attention span, I am slowly becoming one. I am trying to fight the demon within, read longer stories, and leave my phone in the other room. How am I going to help be the solution if I myself am a “zombie”.
Being aware of your phone usage and moderating it is 99% of the solution, I think. The zombies are the ones who are bumping full speed into me and my dogs on our neighborhood walks, unaware of the world around them.
I feel like using our phone is a compromise we will have to make, since network and cable tv are collapsing, soon our phones will probably be our only hope for a program that isnt playing to the lowest common denominator.
Agree! And while the cynical take is that there isn’t enough demand for that programming to be worth it, because not enough people want nuanced POVs, I tend to disagree. Those who are tuning out cable news might be lured back with the right kind of programming. I have all kinds of ideas for what this kind of show I would watch would be. For instance: Remember CNN’s Crossfire of the early 00s? I want something like that, except with substance, civility, and dialogue. Maybe undecided and diverse-political-spectrum participants conveying which arguments they found most convincing. Analyzing media for misinformation.
I work in the tv biz and my ideas for shows were always criticized for being too earnest and honest. But I wish they’d explore that need for genuine discussions that people have. Instead they are married to this idea that all viewers are morons. 😔
This American Life has done some good episodes on various issues and those are always my favorite episodes as they talk to people impacted by the events of the world. They talked to a USAID worker who was trying to figure out how to deal with the rug being pulled out from them.
Gabe! My daughters and I just came back from Kenya where we created a documentary on what is happening to PEPFAR - and have been sending our video to as many Senators as we can reach. Would you mind taking a look at this and adding to your article? Watch the 25 minute film here: https://youtu.be/qPk5MAlCyGM. We have also been trying to share to media outlets, but it has been a slow reception with the news cycles changing every second :(
Can’t wait to watch this.
I just watched! This is the type of story that needs to be shown on news outlets. I left a comment earlier about my frustration with the 24 hour news coverage. This was well done, not inflammatory, and had a call to action at the end. Thank you! I hope it gets widely shared.
“America first,” no matter the cost. There will be no diplomacy or humanitarian efforts. There will be tariffs, taunting, & “peace through strength.” I refuse to accept it, but I’m learning to expect it.
Thank you for this Gabe! I look forward to reading the Lancet piece. We hear so much from agencies that we feel are ineffective and so little from agencies that trudge along working well. We don’t realize the work they’re doing behind the scenes because there are no large, flashy errors or big wins highlighting their work. The government over selling small wins easily comes across as propaganda.
We are all on this planet together...the US is the richest country and we owe it to the rest of the world to HELP! This administration is just filled with horrible humans. SAD! And we definitely need to continue to point out what this administration is NOT doing/taking away...the media is really not doing a good job of that...(that's why we love you guys so much)!
I was a Safety Professional and proving the negative is so frustratingly difficult. But, the whole “America First” makes my blood boil. It seems the only thing we want to be first in is hatred for anything not straight, white, and male, and extra points for being wealthy. While cutting funding for USAID, they certainly didn’t turn around and spend that money in America to assist those without housing, food, or healthcare. They took that away, too.
I would much rather my tax dollars go to USAID and PREPFAR then ICE and the defense department.
If there is ONE thing I want my taxes to do it's help people who are less fortunate than me. No question.
Couldn't agree more. I have been heartsick about the cuts to USAID. I am a United Methodist pastor and we have a global church with many clergy and missionaries around the world. The devastation caused by these cuts is unconscionable. Women and children especially are dying as a result. We are the richest country in the world. Thank you for bringing this tragedy to the awareness of many. Let us be bold in contacting our elected leaders.
Another example of this heartless administration. You can cut waste & fraud without gutting an agency.
I pay roughly $265 a day in taxes. And wish more than anything that that money would go toward increasing the quality of life for as many people as possible rather than to increase the money making ability of corporations 😭 I don’t see how anyone could choose otherwise!
Thank you for sharing this very important reporting.
On a purely selfish read of USAID it’s helped all Americans in that certain diseases were completely eradicated in the world bc of efforts to vaccinate against those diseases in poorer countries. That’s not even talking about the fact that aid in other countries can lead to better infrastructure and prevent people having to immigrate to countries like ours.