The little people within the grant system

I woke up this morning thinking about the "little people" at the bottom rung of these government (USAID for instance) grants who have no idea what's behind the paycheck or where the program has gone. Government work is considered "secure" even if you are part time and temporary as I always was in the 80s. I think about the agricultural credit grant that paid me for 3 years, everyone above me, and a few below. I still see my publications pop up on the internet. 40 years. Later, I helped with grant writing workshops. We probably brought in coffee and bagels for the class. For years I know I worked on grants or attended meetings supported by grants--and there was always good food at our events.

 
Even when I was hired to work in a program (STEPS) to retool senior citizens who'd lost their jobs in the 1980s, we subcontracted out to building owners who supplied the spaces and the computers, and the food services, and probably the local senior organizations who supplied the clients. We travelled around the state--the money coming in was going out and helping the local economy. I'm not saying we didn't do any good or people didn't benefit, but it was mainly me who benefitted--the skills I learned, the publications that moved me ahead in my career path, the friends I made, the information I learned--I even wrote speeches on labor for a politician to give on the road (she was later killed in a plane crash). Mainly I'm talking about funding that had already had about 60% taken off the top by whatever state or local agency/organization had gotten from the federal agency. You can imagine all the people who are paid along the way. From file clerk to janitor to van driver to the lowly researcher who wrote and assembled the learning materials and arranged for it to happen.

It's difficult to track what became of USAID money--I went into the WayBack (?) archive and read the 2016 annual report. The photos are wonderful--lovely black faces beaming over experimental agricultural plots, or happy children in bright clothing raising their hands in class. You can see the model programs, and many did benefit. The report was so vague about actual costs, my eyes glazed over. Having worked in the system, I knew how to write like that. A few words about DEI goals, but minimal. Not like you would read today where each chapter seems to need a paragraph. USAID was established as an independent agency to infiltrate and influence the local culture, but probably not with drag queen shows and sex change operations. Its purpose is to maintain our interests over Russia and China's. Instead, we're creating chaos in the local culture which benefits our enemies.

And I also thought (at 6 a.m.) what $9 million to the Leftist media during the Biden years could have done for the people in North Carolina. Yesterday it was reported that "Politico received at least $8.2 million from the U.S. government in recent years, with $44,000 of that coming from USAID, according to USAspending.gov." The Department of Energy has given Politico $1.29 million, the Department of Agriculture has given $552,024 and the Department of Commerce has given $485,572.
Sigh. No wonder the Democrats are screaming and rioting. Someone is draining the gravy train.

Interesting Congressional hearing report on USAID reporting for 2011. USAID: Following The Money : Committee on Oversight and Government Reform : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive  from Internet Archive.  Obviously, Congress has known for many years what was going on with wasted tax money funneled through USAID.