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The Moral Liberal
Jan 6 2014
U.S. Blows $3.35 Mil to Improve Armenian Media
CORRUPTION CHRONICLES, JUDICIAL WATCH
The scandal-plagued government agency that annually spends huge sums
on global humanitarian assistance has found yet another noble cause to
blow a chunk of American taxpayer dollars on - improving the quality of
media content in a former Soviet republic with a democratic
government.
It's simply the latest of many questionable allocations of public
funds by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which
is charged with providing economic, development and humanitarian
assistance worldwide. In a recent announcement titled `USAID from the
American People/Armenia,' the Obama administration revealed that it's
dedicating $3.35 million to make media more efficient in the
southwestern Asian country.
The program is officially called `Media for Informed Civic Engagement'
and the goal is to increase citizen access to independent and reliable
sources of information about the government of Armenia's policies and
planned reforms. Special emphasis will be put on `reforms in
decentralization, transparency and accountability, and social sector
policy,' according to the USAID announcement.
In the end `media capacity to meet professional standards of
journalism and reflect a diversity of perspectives in reporting' will
be strengthened, USAID says. Journalists will be more professional,
networks of media outlets will be stronger and access to credible and
professionally produced information will increase. With the U.S.
economy hurting for years and unemployment sky high, it's fair to say
this isn't a priority for most Americans.
Then again, that can be said about many of the causes that USAID funds
with our tax money. The agency has a massive budget and it doles out
billions of dollars to feel-good causes like reducing global poverty
and under nutrition in Africa and to help Asians learn enough English
to work in offshore call centers for American businesses. You can't
make this stuff up. USAID actually spent $10 million to train
Filipinos to work in Asian call centers that serve the very U.S.
businesses President Obama threatened to strip of tax deductions for
moving jobs and profits abroad.
In the last few months alone, USAID has been embroiled in two massive
scandals that have fleeced Americans out of hundreds of millions of
dollars. The first one involves the allocation of $236 million to the
fraud-infested Afghan Ministry of Public Health. The money is supposed
to fund prenatal care for women, hospitals, physicians' salaries and
other medical costs but the Islamic republic's health agency lacks the
necessary controls and oversight to prevent waste, fraud and abuse so
no really knows where the money has gone.
In fact, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR), which was created precisely to protect American tax dollars
in the country's assistance effort, has repeatedly warned USAID about
the corruption that plagues the health agency. The continuous flow of
U.S. cash to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health is a `reckless
disregard toward the management of U.S. taxpayer dollars,' the
watchdog writes in a recent report.
Just a few weeks ago Judicial Watch wrote about a mainstream newspaper
exposé detailing how millions of dollars in malaria drugs provided to
Africa by the U.S. government - via USAID - are stolen each year and sold
on the black market. More than 20% of the mostly American-financed
malaria drugs are diverted each year, with a street value of about $60
million, according to inside government sources cited in the news
story. The U.S. provides the medication via a USAID program called
President's Malaria Initiative (PMI).
http://www.themoralliberal.com/2014/01/06/u-s-blows-3-35-mil-to-improve-armenian-media/
Jan 6 2014
U.S. Blows $3.35 Mil to Improve Armenian Media
CORRUPTION CHRONICLES, JUDICIAL WATCH
The scandal-plagued government agency that annually spends huge sums
on global humanitarian assistance has found yet another noble cause to
blow a chunk of American taxpayer dollars on - improving the quality of
media content in a former Soviet republic with a democratic
government.
It's simply the latest of many questionable allocations of public
funds by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which
is charged with providing economic, development and humanitarian
assistance worldwide. In a recent announcement titled `USAID from the
American People/Armenia,' the Obama administration revealed that it's
dedicating $3.35 million to make media more efficient in the
southwestern Asian country.
The program is officially called `Media for Informed Civic Engagement'
and the goal is to increase citizen access to independent and reliable
sources of information about the government of Armenia's policies and
planned reforms. Special emphasis will be put on `reforms in
decentralization, transparency and accountability, and social sector
policy,' according to the USAID announcement.
In the end `media capacity to meet professional standards of
journalism and reflect a diversity of perspectives in reporting' will
be strengthened, USAID says. Journalists will be more professional,
networks of media outlets will be stronger and access to credible and
professionally produced information will increase. With the U.S.
economy hurting for years and unemployment sky high, it's fair to say
this isn't a priority for most Americans.
Then again, that can be said about many of the causes that USAID funds
with our tax money. The agency has a massive budget and it doles out
billions of dollars to feel-good causes like reducing global poverty
and under nutrition in Africa and to help Asians learn enough English
to work in offshore call centers for American businesses. You can't
make this stuff up. USAID actually spent $10 million to train
Filipinos to work in Asian call centers that serve the very U.S.
businesses President Obama threatened to strip of tax deductions for
moving jobs and profits abroad.
In the last few months alone, USAID has been embroiled in two massive
scandals that have fleeced Americans out of hundreds of millions of
dollars. The first one involves the allocation of $236 million to the
fraud-infested Afghan Ministry of Public Health. The money is supposed
to fund prenatal care for women, hospitals, physicians' salaries and
other medical costs but the Islamic republic's health agency lacks the
necessary controls and oversight to prevent waste, fraud and abuse so
no really knows where the money has gone.
In fact, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR), which was created precisely to protect American tax dollars
in the country's assistance effort, has repeatedly warned USAID about
the corruption that plagues the health agency. The continuous flow of
U.S. cash to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health is a `reckless
disregard toward the management of U.S. taxpayer dollars,' the
watchdog writes in a recent report.
Just a few weeks ago Judicial Watch wrote about a mainstream newspaper
exposé detailing how millions of dollars in malaria drugs provided to
Africa by the U.S. government - via USAID - are stolen each year and sold
on the black market. More than 20% of the mostly American-financed
malaria drugs are diverted each year, with a street value of about $60
million, according to inside government sources cited in the news
story. The U.S. provides the medication via a USAID program called
President's Malaria Initiative (PMI).
http://www.themoralliberal.com/2014/01/06/u-s-blows-3-35-mil-to-improve-armenian-media/