From PJMedia.com
Let me just start by saying that there is nothing, and I repeat nothing, happy about “Tax Day.”
But knowing that someone is finally taking steps to get rid of some of the stupid things our tax dollars are going to — things I never signed up for and I bet you didn’t either — makes it a little better.
Advertisement
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced via X on Tuesday that under his direction, the State Department “has canceled another 139 grants worth $214 million” as part of the current administration’s efforts to clean up “the mess the previous administration left.”
Under my direction, the @StateDept has canceled another 139 grants worth $214 million.
The American taxpayers should not be funding misguided programs like “Building the Migrant Domestic Worker-Led Movement” in Lebanon or “Get the Trolls Out!” in the United Kingdom.
We are…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 15, 2025
You won’t believe what some of those grants were going to. As Rubio mentions in his X post, we were paying for programs like “Building the Migrant Domestic Worker-Led Movement” in Lebanon and “Get the Trolls Out” in the United Kingdom. (What?)
An exclusive article published by the Free Beacon on Tuesday highlights even more of the absurdity: $16 million for “expanded newsroom sustainability and engagement” in Moldova, $5.2 million to a “media diversity” grant for an “anti-disinformation program” in the UK, and $400,000 for “Building Environmental Resilience” in Armenia. $1 million went to “channeling gig workers’ rights” in Brazil, while $750,000 went to the aforementioned “Building the Migrant Domestic Worker-led Movement” grant in Lebanon, where, as the Free Beacon points out, “Hezbollah holds sway over the government.”
Advertisement
Most of these cuts will impact the State Department’s controversial Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL).
Rubio reportedly signed off on ending these grants on Monday night, and they went into effect today. I guess the UK will have to find someone else to bankroll its… media diversity.
Seriously? Are we just handing out cash the way politicians throw candy at 4th of July parades? If so, I’d like to get in on that. Send me $5.2 million for media diversity. I work in the media after all. I’d be willing to add some diversity to my workday for that price.
And if this doesn’t prove that Democrats are not the party of the people, I don’t know what does. I’m against a lot of the foreign aid we send, but if we must, wouldn’t these dollars be better spent as part of humanitarian programs? And I’m not talking humanitarian programs like “save the drag queens in Uganda…” I’m talking about real programs that provide food and water to people who are starving and medical care to people who are dying from curable diseases. When Democrats lobby for that and that only, they can come at me with all their talk about empathy.
Think about that the next time your favorite liberal media outlet publishes some stock photo of a Latino child crying, pretending that it’s the result of Donald Trump’s deportation program or pretends that Rubio’s State Department is only revoking the visas of the world’s top doctors and sweet little old grandfathers. None of that is true. Liberals do not care about these people as human beings.
Advertisement
They do not actually care about the sick, hungry, and downtrodden. They care about building up their voter base by catering to terrorists and criminals, and they care about spreading their wacko leftist ideology around the world. That’s it. Thank goodness we finally have grownups in charge who are willing to fix this.
Anyway, the Free Beacon reports that “DOGE carried out the ‘supplemental review of remaining foreign assistance grant programs’ after the State Department completed its initial foreign funding review in late February.” The initial review found $60 billion worth of grants that do not align with the Trump administration’ policies, which are aimed at removing any aid that does not support “life-saving aid and strategic and national security priorities.”
It sounds like we still have a way to go, but we’re off to a nice start — a scalpel, not a hatchet.
In case you haven’t heard, we’re on a new journey here at PJ Media, and we hope you’ll join us as a VIP member.
Not only do you support us and help keep running, but gain some perks for you too when you sign up. I know you’re thinking it’s going to be expensive, but right now, it’s only $1.63 a month or less than $20 for an entire year of access.
Click this link to sign up today, and use the code word FIGHT to make sure you get the best price. We can’t wait for you to join us!
All articles possibly rephrased by InfoArmed.com