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Tipsheet

Despite No Evidence, This USAID Cuts Narrative Has Taken Hold

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Every time President Trump says, well, anything, the media prefaces it with the phrase "without evidence." If the President said the sky is blue, the stories would read, "President Trump asserted, without evidence, that the sky is blue. Our experts tell us it's actually cyan."

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But when Democrats or other Leftists say things that are unproven or demonstrably false, the media treat them as gospel truth. This is one of those times when The New Yorker asserts, without evidence, that USAID cuts have killed hundreds of thousands of people. The article is from November 5. Here's some of what it says:

Clearly, I lacked imagination. Within hours of being sworn in, President Trump signed an executive order for a “pause” to all foreign assistance. Secretary Rubio sent a cable suspending every program outright. No program staff could be paid. No services could be delivered. Medicines and food already on the shelves could not be used. No warning had been given to the governments that relied on them. It was immediately obvious that hundreds of thousands of people would die in the first year alone. But the Administration did not reconsider; it escalated. Elon Musk exulted in swinging his chainsaw. Within weeks and in defiance of legal mandates, he and Rubio purged U.S.A.I.D.’s staff, terminated more than four-fifths of its contracts, impounded its funds, and dismantled the agency. Neither Congress nor the Supreme Court did anything to stop it.

...

The toll is appalling and will continue to grow. But these losses will be harder to see than those of war. For one, they unfold slowly. When H.I.V. or tuberculosis goes untested, unprevented, or inadequately treated, months or years can pass before a person dies. The same is true for deaths from vaccine-preventable illnesses. Another difficulty is that the deaths are scattered. Suppose the sudden withdrawal of aid raises a country’s under-five death rate from three per cent to four per cent. That would be a one-third increase in deaths, but hard to appreciate simply by looking around.

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The article says we're witnessing a "public man-made death," a phrase coined by historian Richard Rhodes. Rhodes also says this is "the most overlooked cause of mortality in the last century."

It also cites Brooke Nichols, an epidemiologist with Boston University, who created a tracker of the impact of USAID cuts. It estimates that 600,000 people have died so far, and that two-thirds of them are children.

Yet while we get breathless stories in the media about these deaths, we have to wonder where is any proof that this is happening and tied to the shuttering of USAID? We've yet to see any of that.

But the narrative is set. Rachel Maddow blamed Marco Rubio for AIDS deaths, claiming — again, without evidence — that we were only a decade away from eradicating the disease. And now a Finnish PhD student is going to keep posting about the USAID story because it's not getting enough attention for his liking.

Perhaps it's getting so little attention because it's not true. Or perhaps it's because Americans, like this writer, are fed up with our tax dollars being thrown about the globe to fund programs that don't comport with our values or give benefits to people who would kill us in the street if given the chance.

We notice the Finnish government hasn't stepped up to offer money to struggling nations to save lives, nor has any other country. It seems that the burden is America's alone to shoulder when we're not being called imperialist colonizers and racists. We also have to ask: for all the years USAID operated and for the billions of dollars spent, not one of these governments or NGOs had any money left over when the spigot was turned off? They blew through every single dime without a vision of a future where the piggy bank might once run dry?

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That seems like a problem they should have addressed years ago.

"The reason this receives no attention is that it's completely fake. There is no serious analysis to show this. Even the person putting it online does not really believe it's true. It was always just a very lame propaganda exercise," wrote one critic.

"What gives you the right to take the dollars I earn with the sweat of my brow and give them away wherever you want?" asked one social media user.

"You're free to donate your money. Not mine," said another.

As always, the Left is generous. With other people's time and money. Never their own. They beg the government to raise tax rates for everyone so they can pay more, but never willingly cut a check to the IRS to cover what they think is their "fair share."

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Perhaps Margaret Thatcher said it best when she remarked that the problem with socialism is you run out of other people's money, because we're seeing her wise words play out.

Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.

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