Worthy Causes, Wastefulness, And The Democrats' Dilemma

On February 20 (2025), the one-month anniversary of the presidential inauguration could be described as a whirlwind that has carried the American people along with its rush, confusion, and sometimes violent and destructive force. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by when the nation has not been caught up in events that have tested our resolve, courage, strength, and fortitude.

Of particular significance is the heated political and cultural warfare that has manifested itself over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to its mandate, through an executive order signed by President Trump, DOGE will be a “temporary contracted government organization” and not a cabinet-level department. The administrator of the DOGE is Elon Musk, business mogul, owner, builder, and inventor.

DOGE’s guiding principles state, “The organization was created to modernize federal technology and software to maximize government efficiency and productivity. It will accomplish this by reducing wasteful and fraudulent federal spending, and eliminating excessive regulations.” DOGE creation, and thus far its accomplishments, has given birth to what can be considered one of the most, if not the most, controversial and violent political uprisings in modern times.

Since its inception, DOGE and its activities have been received with protests and lawsuits, by Democrats, the usual leftist activist community, and the media. State Attorneys General have also filed lawsuits. In last week’s article, I detailed how Democrats and their supporters and enablers have been driven to uncontrollable outbursts, recklessness, vulgarity, and threats, and how they have abandoned decency and common sense.

In commenting on this ongoing brouhaha, and the need for reform, Senator Joni Ernst (R/IA) of the House Oversight Committee is quoted, “Over the past decade, I have been working on what I called my squeal work. So, every month, publishing, you know, squeal awards for government waste fraud that we have uncovered,” Ernst said, noting that she has several staff members “entirely dedicated to uncovering fraud and waste within the federal government.”

By now you might have asked, aside from the Trump-Musk partnership and agenda, and the discovery of activities and outlandish and wasteful expenditures of taxpayer funds, what could cause the Democrats, media, and the Left to succumb to their innermost demons and fall into such dire straits? Add to this, the downsizing of the federal workforce, and that certain government-funded programs are now being reduced or defunded entirely - what is the problem?

Actually, these all are a major cause, but something else is at play here, and it proves a point about the differences in the political class and positioning in the culture war. Dealing here specifically with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in a review made by the DOGE group, it has been determined that this government program is laced with wasteful spending.

Proof of this is in the following, as here are just a few of the questionable causes monies have gone to: Condoms in Gaza - $50 million; Advance and promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion in Serbia - $1.5 million; Production of DEI musical in Ireland - $70,000; Transgender opera in Columbia - $47,000; Transgender comic book in Peru - $32,000; Electric vehicles in Vietnam - $2.5 million; gender development offices in the workplace - $16 million; sex changes and LGBT activism in Guatemala - $2 million; tourism in Egypt - $2 million.

These are but a few of what any sensible and serious American would think of as absurd funding efforts of the USAID program, and why the DOGE was necessary and none too soon. And this is the Democratic Party's dilemma. They're apoplectic over the cost-cutting, but they have not however differentiated between the good and bad, the worthy and the fraud. This is indicative of how their agenda and ideological thinking is so warped and illogical. It appears their position manifests itself in a blanket approval, even of the wasteful.

The dispersal of funds through the USAID program is determined by Sector: Governance - 16.8 billion; Humanitarian assistance - $10.5 billion; Health - $7.0 billion; Administrative expenses - $3.5 billion; Other programs - 41.6 billion; Agriculture - $1.3 billion; Education - $1.1 billion; Infrastructure - $1.0 billion; Economic growth - $0.7 billion. As you can see, the use of taxpayer-funded humanitarian aid to the world's impoverished people, according to the sector breakdown, seems to be spread across a broad spectrum of causes, the good and the bad. I guess the wasteful spending falls under the “Other” sector.

The waste will hopefully be corrected, and the savings passed on to real needs. But the dispersal of funds to certain entities can also have harmful effects. Congressman Mike Lawler (R/NY) has found that in some cases monies have gone to groups with terrorist ties.