Dakota Beacon

High Crimes and Misdemeanors Courtesy of American Foreign Aid

Sally Morris

January 23, 2020

Recent developments vis-à-vis the impeachment investigation and process beg the question, why are we giving foreign aid to any country?

The question is not a new one, but it is one which has not been revisited recently.  As a successful representative democracy and market economy, the United States has, unfortunately, come to the conclusion that our country is here for the benefit of others in other countries, not for our own people and our own economy.  

In 1791, slaves revolted against French colonialists in Haiti.  Those concerned with the plight of French refugees prevailed upon Congress to allocate certain funds for their benefit.  The need could be argued: the Hatian rebels were savage in their attacks on the French of the island. Mass killing took place under the orders of the leadership.  None were spared other than white women willing to marry non-whites. It was undoubtedly a difficult case to say no to when a plea was made for relief. James Madison was firm in his conviction that providing American taxpayers’ money for a foreign use was wrong.    Although desirous of helping these unfortunate people, he did not want to establish such a precedent. “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution,” he said, “ which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”  Despite being a compassionate person, he understood that charity is not accomplished by taking money from one entity to give it to another. Taxes are not voluntary. They are compulsory. Therefore, taxes cannot be used to benefit anything but what the Constitution specifically allows. There was and is no prohibition on providing benefits that are voluntary - truly charitable - donations (provided that the beneficiaries are not anti-American interests, such as terrorists).  

Things changed greatly in modern times.  In the aftermath of World War I the victorious Allies had the poor judgment to impose harshly punitive conditions upon the vanquished Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Germany.  The devastation of their economies gave rise to first the economic chaos of runaway inflation and near-starvation of the people and this, in turn, gave rise to an avenging spirit in the form of Adolf Hitler, who preyed upon the desperation of these people and who provided scapegoats, mainly Jews, Gypsies and others.  When the dust of World War II settled and we saw Germany destroyed again and with an invigorated and aggressive Soviet Union gnawing at the eastern borders of Europe, western powers, again victorious, determined to avoid the punitive measures exacted by Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George. Instead, they would,led by the United States, now enjoying a robust, burgeoning economy, provide assistance to help shore them up against Soviet power.  

This might have been useful on a limited basis.  Once these countries re-established some form of business and commerce, repaired their damaged economies, the United States should have withdrawn aid.  It would have been appropriate then to have remembered James Madison’s words. Once this outlay was not required to provide for our own common defense (which could have been argued for providing limited aid), it should have ended and everyone should have expected it to end.  Instead, we veered off on a new tangent of playing a cornucopia, a fountain of endless wealth to these nations, allies as well as former enemies.  

What has been the result of this beneficence?  One bad result has been experienced by the beneficiaries themselves.  Countries such as Germany, France and others, now freed from their own economic accountability and their own needs for national defense, embarked upon a grand experiment in socialism.  This course has taken their people to a great level of dependence upon inefficient government welfare systems, ironically enabling the encroachment of socialism from within even as the United States was pumping out aid to help protect them from the Soviets.  

It has had another evil effect which we have seen uncovered right here at home.  In addition to the expenditures which have augmented our reckless spending program, thus weakening our economy and our own national defense thereby, it has provided the stage for deep corruption.  The case of Hunter Biden is an excellent example. The United States promised Ukraine foreign aid during the Obama administration. Obama’s Vice President, Joe Biden, has a son, Hunter. Hunter Biden has an unfortunate resume, having been mustered out of the United States Navy in disgrace, on drug charges.  He has managed to get a degree in law and presumably has passed the bar. He has not managed much of anything else. He is currently involved in a distasteful court case - a paternity suit involving a stripper. Biden was married to someone else at the time.  

However, Hunter Biden found an extraordinary opportunity, one which would be the envy of almost any ambitious American.  He was put on the Board of Directors of Burisma, a Ukraininan energy (gas) company.  Biden has/had no expertise in the field of gas production - at least not the kind in question with Burisma.  And he was paid a handsome salary - $50,000 -$80,000+/month.  That is by any standards a fortune.  So what were his credentials for this important position?  None. Other than the fact that his father was Vice President of the United States.  And the United States had promised and had the capacity to deliver massive foreign aid.  And what did he do as a member of this highly-paid Board? He was apparently able to work a lot from home.  

It should be noted that a more normal salary would have been $275,000/year.  Clearly something is out of kilter here.  The unhealthy situation was under investigation by some reform-minded members of the Ukrainian government when VP Joe Biden paid Ukraine a call and ordered them to drop the investigation into his son’s participation in this windfall position.  The Vice President himself bragged about his effectiveness in laying down the law. No aid would be released to Ukraine if the investigation were not terminated tout suite.  

It was entirely appropriate that if a subsequent administration got wind of this (and with Biden’s braggadocio it would have been hard not to hear of it) to investigate the matter anew.  After all, we are talking about very deep corruption not only in Ukraine but also in the handling of our foreign aid money. This is constituents’ money, taxpayers’ money. It is entirely right that the current president,, whoever he may be, should be looking at this and at least asking some pertinent questions.  And yet, this has formed the basis for the entirely partisan effort to impeachment the current president. If it is wrong to inquire about this, is it wrong to have created the damning co-dependent relationship with Ukraine in the first place? The answer is easy.

We found out about this dynamic thanks entirely to the fulminant impeachment effort by Democrats, recklessly staining their own candidates in the process of pursuing, like mad dogs, this Moby Dick.  But think - how much more is going on around the world where our hard-earned and increasingly scarce American dollars are funding corruption in third-world countries even as they are setting the stage for predators such as the Bidens to move in and profit from the symbiotic corruption.  Our money is being used as an instrument of crime and corruption around the world, often featuring the same players. And these people are accusing the current president of being “above the law”? This disgusting practice has become so commonplace now among the leadership in Washington that Nancy Pelosi has declared that everything the Biden family is doing is “above-board” and “legal”.  

These corrupt practices could be summed up this way:  The poor people of a “rich” country are sending their tax dollars to the rich people of “poor” countries.  

This foreign corruption is bad enough, but kickbacks come back here to fund further corruption right here in America.  Enriching corrupt American politicians as this case illustrates, has the capacity to destroy our republic. It grows itself like a cancerous tumor.

The news we hear every day reinforces the wisdom of our Founding Fathers.  Madison was quite correct in his determination that the Constitution does not permit using Americans’ taxes to benefit a foreign entity.  He would, I am confident, extend his observation on this matter to unauthorized programs here at home - the Department of Education, the EPA and many others.  If we are to right our ship of state, if we are to survive as a free country, we need to study our Constitution and when we find a program, foreign or domestic, which contradicts the original Constitution’s provisions, we need to eliminate it.  It looks like a good time to take our country back.

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