Republicans in Congress work to save $1.8 billion in U.S.-grown food aid from the USAID graveyard

Closure of some U.S. food-aid programs
could hurt farmers. (Adobe Stock photo)

Republicans are working to rescue the Food for Peace program from the USAID-closing abyss by moving its oversight to the Department of Agriculture.

"Congressional Republicans from farm states are trying to save a $1.8 billion U.S. food-aid program that purchases U.S.-grown food and is administered by USAID, which has been largely closed by the Trump administration," reports Kristina Peterson of The Wall Street Journal.

The GOP group introduced legislation to save the 70-year-old program that works to combat international hunger by "transferring it to the USDA, which currently funds it but doesn’t run it," Peterson explains. "The bill marks a rare effort from Republicans to defend a federal program targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency." 

The White House hasn’t commented on the bill and "is watching to see how much support there is for it," Peterson adds. "Farm groups, which have worried about the impact of pausing federal funding that flows to farmers, backed the legislation."

The USDA already manages some foreign-aid programs, such as the McGovern-Dole program, which "send U.S.-grown food to schoolchildren in low-income countries," Peterson reports. The USDA hasn't confirmed if its programs will remain open.

Surveys show conservative voters in rural areas oppose more military aid to Ukraine

The support for military aid to Ukraine has dropped dramatically among conservative Americans in rural areas, reports Brian Mann of NPR.

The lack of support, including from top candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, could jeopardize continued funding from the United States.

“U.S. support for the country totals more than $100 billion so far and is a lifeline for the embattled country after Russia's brutal invasion last year,” Mann writes.

But many conservatives think the funding should be cut significantly or stopped.

According to Mann, “Overall, polls show American support for financial aid and weapons for Ukraine remains strong. But surveys conducted over the past year show a major shift among Republicans.

“A Pew survey in May 2022 found only 17% of GOP voters thought the Biden administration was doing too much to help Ukraine. But a CNN poll released this month found 76% of self-described conservatives now oppose further aid.”

According to Mann’s report, “Military and foreign policy experts say halting U.S. aid would make it nearly impossible for Ukrainians to defend themselves and also would signal a lack of American resolve in defending a key ally.

“But many small town voters interviewed by NPR said those aren't their top concerns. They want politicians to focus money and energy on problems closer to home.”

Fact-checking President Trump's inaugural address

Photo via newsoneplace.com

"Generally, inaugural addresses are not designed to be fact-checked. But President Trump’s address was nothing if not unique, presenting a portrait of the United States that often was at variance with reality," write Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee of "The Fact Checker" column of The Washington Post.

Trump said, “For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.” The fact-checkers write, "Trump mixes up several things here. He seems to be referring to free-trade agreements [but] ignores the fact that many U.S. industries also benefit and grow when they are able to sell products overseas. . . . Trump appears to be referring to military bases that the United States has overseas. . . . Given a defense budget of more than $500 billion, the cost of maintaining these bases is a mere pittance." And the final phrase "is hyper-exaggeration. One can argue about whether the military budget should be boosted, but there is no question that the U.S. military is stronger and more capable than any other nation’s."

Trump also said the U.S. has “spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We’ve made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.” The fact-checkers write, "Trump appears to be referring to U.S. involvement in military adventures, such as the 2003 Iraq invasion he supported, and possibly foreign aid. Foreign aid amounts to less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget, with about $18 billion going to economic and development aid and $8 billion for security assistance. So Trump only gets to 'trillions and trillions of dollars' by including wars. . . . But we doubt Iraqis would say the war made the country 'rich.' Contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, the United States is far wealthier than other nations."

On trade, his signature issue, Trump said “One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.” The fact-checkers write, "Trump again engages in hyperbole, attributing all of the decline in manufacturing to foreign trade. . . . Some analysts calculate that between 1 million and 2 million U.S. jobs were lost after China was admitted to the World Trade Organization in 2000. But economists believe the biggest factor in the decline in manufacturing is automation, not jobs going overseas. Another factor is decreased consumer spending on manufactured goods." (Read more)

Fact checking claims at Democratic convention on veteran homelessness, Social Security, NATO

The third day of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday created more fodder for fact checkers. If you want to re-publish them, we encourage you to look at reports by The Washington Post's Fact Checker unit, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org for full context and things you may want to add. (Politico photo by Jason Lee: President Obama speaking Wednesday)

President Obama said, We “cut veterans' homelessness almost in half.” The number is actually 35 percent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Post fact-checkers Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Le write, "He likely is referring to the decrease in homeless veterans who are 'unsheltered,' defined as 'places not meant for human habitation, such as the streets, abandoned buildings, vehicles, or parks.' The unsheltered homeless veteran population decreased by 45.9 percent from 2009 to 2015."

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said, “Donald Trump and Mike Pence want to gamble with your retirement benefits in the stock market.” Lee and Kessler write, "This is a tired old talking point that Democrats throw at Republicans, one that we have criticized in the past. Yet it’s particularly misplaced against Donald Trump. As a presidential candidate, Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will not touch Social Security benefits, saying it can held solvent without changing its structure. There’s no indication that he currently supports investing Social Security trust funds—now in Treasury bonds—in the stock market."

"As is typical of Trump, he sang a different tune in 2000, writing in a book that Social Security was a 'Ponzi scheme' and the retirement age should be raised to 70," Kessler and Lee write. "He also called for 'privatization' of the program. Pence, as a member of Congress, was supportive of George W. Bush’s ill-fated 2005 effort to introduce investment options. It was designed as a voluntary program, in which individuals could choose to direct a relatively small portion of their payroll taxes to investment options besides Treasury securities. But Bush could not even get a committee vote on his idea, even though Republicans controlled both houses of Congress,. That was 11 years ago, and no serious Republican has tried to push the concept again."

Eugene Kiely of FactCheck.org, writes, "vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine claimed that Trump said he 'wants to abandon' our NATO allies. Trump has said that he doesn’t want the U.S. to leave NATO, but has suggested he would not automatically defend NATO allies that do not pay their share of defense costs."

"Obama claimed that under his administration, 'we finally began to wean ourselves off foreign oil,' but dependency on imported oil had begun to drop years before he took office," Kiely writes. "Obama said deficits have 'come down' under his administration.' That’s true, but they are expected to rise again soon under his proposed budget."

Despite lower crop forecasts, Vilsack insists U.S. will remain leader in food aid and food exports

UPDATE: In his weekly address, President Obama says his administration’s has an "all-hands-on-deck" approach to the drought, and lists steps it has taken, including opening more federal land for haying and grazing; giving farmers, ranchers, and small businesses access to low-interest emergency loans; and providing assistance to get more water to livestock and restore land affected by the drought. The audio and video of the address will be available at www.whitehouse.gov at 6 a.m. ET, Saturday, August 11.

The government slashed its expectations for U.S. corn and soybean production for the second consecutive month Friday, predicting what could be the lowest average corn yield in more than 15 years as the worst drought in decades grips major farm states. The Associated Press reports that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack insisted that U.S. farmers and ranchers will remain resilient and the country will continue to meet demand as the global leader in farm exports and food aid. For a more thorough reading of the USDA Drought Monitor, go here.