Betrayed by Uncle Sam... Again

It may be the greatest betrayal of Americans by their own government in U.S. history, right up there with Congress raiding the Social Security “lockbox” to pay current expenses. In that latter instance, the $2.8 trillion surplus that the Social Security Administration amassed from the mid-1980s through 2020 has been invested in interest-bearing Treasury securities. In other words, by investing in T-bills, the SSA has loaned the federal government money for its general operating budget, money that will have to repaid to cover future benefits by borrowing even more money (with interest) down the road.

Got it?

As a result of that “rob Peter now to pay Paul later” mentality, Social Security is expected to deplete its trust fund by 2037, after which benefits will have to be reduced by approximately 25% for the program to remain solvent. That means that a government program that was built upon the shoulders of Baby Boomers in the workforce is projected to collapse when those same Boomers are fully retired.

Sounds like a Ponzi scheme on steroids to me.

Whereas both parties are at fault for a lack of foresight and political courage when it comes to Social Security, the blame for the more recent betrayal that is the subject of this article lays squarely at the feet of the Democratic Party. Under the Biden-Harris administration and its open border policy, money in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s annual budget that should have been earmarked for disaster relief has instead been allocated to house and feed illegal immigrants, providing them with free cell phones and debit cards while hardworking Americans foot the bill.

Now, in the devastating wake of Hurricane Helene and with Hurricane Milton bearing down on the Florida peninsula, we have been told by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that FEMA is out of money. Luxury hotels for illegals, but no disaster relief funds for the victims of Helene who have lost their homes, their possessions, and their loved ones.

Well, I shouldn’t say “no” disaster relief funds because Vice President Kamala Harris recently assured taxpayers in North Carolina and other affected areas that they are eligible for $750 in federal monies (some reports are that these are actually loans, not direct payments. In either case, it is downright insulting.)

Hmmm… just imagine what a person who has lost his home or business and all its contents can do with a whopping $750?

Even worse, FEMA is now in no position to assist American citizens in the path of Milton because it mismanaged its $33 billion budget, only $20 billion of which is actually designated for major disaster relief. How incompetent, unconscionable, and unforgiveable is that?

By comparison, Samaritan’s Purse operates on a $1 billion annual budget and provides far more emergency relief in a far more effective manner. According to Christianity Today, “the organization’s 160,000-square-foot warehouse and offices in North Wilkesboro, NC employ 385 people who buy, repair, maintain and retrofit millions of dollars’ worth of medical equipment, generators and water filtration systems, much of them donated. The warehouse has six emergency field hospitals ready to ship, four with tents, hospital beds, anesthesiology equipment, X-ray machines, and surgical suites – all engineered to fold into a plane’s fuselage. There are also miles of plastic tarps, mountains of clothing and boxes full of small brown teddy bears with the Samaritan’s Purse logo – a cross inside a circle.”

Speaking of Samaritan’s Purse founder and CEO Franklin Graham, retired public relations executive Mark DeMoss said, “Franklin always liked the challenge of getting on the ground fast and cutting through red tape and bureaucracy. He wants to go where others can’t go, get set up quicker than others and show (people) you’re on the ground.”

Sounds like exactly what the folks in Asheville, Maggie Valley, and Chimney Rock need now… and what the folks in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Ft. Myers may need by week’s end.

And so, I suggest the following: impeach Secretary Mayorkas for a second time and turn the rest of FEMA’s annual operating budget over to Samaritan’s Purse.