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Bernie Sanders blasts Trump for federal loans and grants freeze: ‘He is not a king’
(www.theguardian.com)
Legality aside, you guys should consider doing a rundown of wasteful spending. There is this growing concern on the taxpayer citizens that many, if not all, of the projects that the federal government funds through grants are ridiculous.
It also seems like a lot of federal grants go to NGOs that are carrying out essentially political activities.
I also wouldn't be surprised if many of the federal departments were still awarding grants and loans that directly went against the executive actions Trump put into place.
Say what you want, but at least is logically consistent to do a broad review of federal grants and loans as long as they eliminate some of the wasteful spending. Now, even though there's not a lot of details about how this is going to be carried out, I'm pretty sure it's not going to fix the budget, but it's a start.
I'm guessing (because why not) that the concern Trump has is that if they just did a spend review on a case by case basis, things would get slow-walked to the point that the reviews never happen.
By stopping everything and making re-starting it conditional on passing a review to ensure it's in line with the new standards it provides a strong motivating force to get the reviews done ASAP. Basically subsidizing on demand.
IMO this is a direct result of all the #resistance undermining of Trump during his first term by administrative staffers.
BTW, all this craziness? It really highlights how much power the executive branch has accumulated over the years.
Remember to never give power to someone you like if you’re not willing for someone you don’t like to have that same power. That’s why failsafes and spreading out the keys to power is important in a democratic republic
The government giveth, the government taketh away