…And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt…

Many tourist destinations sell children’s t-shirts that say “My mommy and daddy went to (fill in the blank) and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” That’s about how American taxpayers should be feeling right now.

Yesterday Breitbart posted an article detailing some of the spending in the almost 6,000-page coronavirus relief bill (which was combined with the omnibus budget bill). I suspect that the political theory behind combining the two was that the President wouldn’t veto the coronavirus relief bill. This may have actually been the reason the House of Representatives has refused to approve a relief package before now. This allowed the big spenders in Congress to create a Christmas tree of spending in the omnibus budget bill.

The article includes some of the highlights:

    • $169,739,000 to Vietnam, including $19 million to remediate dioxins (page 1476).
    • Unspecified funds to “continue support for not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Kabul, Afghanistan that are accessible to both women and men in a coeducational environment” (page 1477).
    • $198,323,000 to Bangladesh, including $23.5 million to support Burmese refugees and $23.3 million for “democracy programs” (page 1485).
    • $130,265,000 to Nepal for “development and democracy programs” (page 1485).
    • Pakistan: $15 million for “democracy programs” and $10 million for “gender programs” (page 1486).
    • Sri Lanka: Up to $15 million “for the refurbishing of a high endurance cutter,” which is a type of patrol boat (page 1489).
    • $505,925,000 to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama to “address key factors that contribute to the migration of unaccompanied, undocumented minors to the United States” (pages 1490-1491).
    • $461,375,000 to Colombia for programs related to counternarcotics and human rights (pages 1494-1496).
    • $74.8 million to the “Caribbean Basin Security Initiative” (page 1498).
    • $33 million “for democracy programs for Venezuela” (page 1498).
    • Unspecified amount to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago “for assistance for communities in countries supporting or otherwise impacted by refugees from Venezuela” (page 1499).
    • $132,025,000 “for assistance for Georgia” (page 1499).
    • $453 million “for assistance for Ukraine” (page 1500).

Most Americans can expect a check for $600 and extended unemployment benefits. Wow.