They told us they were going to drain the swamp. They told us America First. They told us the forgotten man was finally going to be remembered.
Here’s what the forgotten man got: twelve million of his tax dollars shipped to England to fund culture-war outfits run by British conservatives. No bidding. No competition. Sole source. Your money, their political allies, no questions asked.
Seven million to 878 — Jacob Rees-Mogg’s think tank that was incorporated in March of this year and whose website went live this month. Seven million dollars to a group that exists on a landing page and a congressional notification. What the fuck.
Five million to Toby Young’s Free Speech Union International — a group whose own website says ‘we take no government money and have no political agenda.’ While accepting a five-million-dollar no-bid government grant. You can’t make this shit up.
Three million to the Jobs Foundation, run by Matthew Elliott, the guy who ran Vote Leave. Fewer than ten employees. For ‘countering overregulation to advance American investment.’ In England. On your dime.
Former State Department officials called this ‘outrageous and absurd’ and ‘horrible stewardship of US taxpayer money.’ One said these groups are being funded ‘to subvert legal and competitive processes.’ These aren’t Democrats saying this. These are their own people.
Meanwhile, back home: hospitals closing, insulin still unaffordable, schools cutting bus routes, towns where a kid can’t find a summer job. And these donor-owned dickweeds are writing seven-figure checks to British political allies through back channels that can’t even survive a competitive bid.
Take the flag pin off before you rob the family. Every goddamn dollar they shipped to London is a dollar they told us we didn’t have. Drain the swamp, my ass. They just ran the pipe overseas.
Source story: State Department plans $12M in grants to UK conservative groups.