Whoever wants to spend our taxpayer dollars on self-esteem for one-legged lesbian ecologists in Tanzania should have to put their name on it.

All this USAID news has my head-spinning — with smoke coming out of my ears.

Enough with this crazy spending without personal accountability, because somebody in some part of our federal leviathan is responsible for those checks.  They should be proud of it.  We should all be given the opportunity to be proud of them too, don’t you think?  All you supporters of one-legged lesbian ecologists in Tanzania?

I’m only half-kidding.  The part about self-esteem for one-legged lesbian ecologists in Tanzania is kidding, (I hope), but I’m deadly serious about putting names on America’s checks.  The bank won’t cash one without a signature in the real world, will they?  Well, our tax money is just as green, just as real, and given the number and size of the disbursements, it seems to me the bureaucrat, congressman, or Senator who wants that money spent should have to literally sign-off on it.  We should be able to go to USASpending.gov and sort expenditures by name: the name of whoever it is who decided that check, that transfer, that ACH, or that bag of cash, should be disbursed.

We should be able to see the Lindsey Grahams of the world.  Oh… you didn’t hear?  Mizzzzz Lindzeeeee is in charge of a $130 million USAID fund!

🚨🇺🇸 Is Lindsey Graham's Seat on USAID-Funded Nonprofit Board a Conflict of Interest? I say yes, how about you?

South Carolina's own @LindseyGrahamSC holds a position as a Board Member at the International Republican Institute (IRI), which isn't just any nonprofit—it's one… pic.twitter.com/8ModlVbei9

— Thomas D Murphy US Senate candidate, SC (R) (@tommurphy8485) February 6, 2025

Now, I suppose an argument could be made that having a senator, an elected leader, in charge of a USAID fund is… oversight.  Of some kind.  But that would be a ridiculously generous reading of the situation and, frankly, reeks of foolish naïveté now, doesn’t it?  You and I and everyone else reading this has been made far too cynical to believe there’s anything benign about these piles of money flying around. Otherwise we’d have known about Senator Graham’s little bag of cash.  Otherwise, we’d know about the bags of cash all these goons “oversee.”  There’s a lot we don’t know.  For instance: did Senator Graham take an honorarium?  Did his colleagues?  Who else?  Did people in positions to influence senators take anything?  Exactly where did all this money go and why?  And how many other senators have, ahem, “oversight” of multi-million dollar USAID funds?

And speaking of the Senate: they do love their amendments, don’t they?  They especially love to insert them in smoke-filled rooms when we aren’t looking and they’re meeting in secret to stuff this or that omnibus full of — to borrow a Karoline-Leavitt-favorite word — crap.  The House loves all those omnibus goodies too.  So they should all have to put their names on them.  You want to sponsor water ballet for far-sighted haberdashers in your state or district?  You’re gonna have to put your name on check, pal.  Thems is tha new rules.

We desperately need a “Name and Shame” law for all spending bills.  Anything that involves our money should have to have a name on it, and it needs to get done now.  No better time.  Strike while the iron of public opinion on these matters is hot!  Contact your senators and representatives and tell them that if they don’t publicly support taking personal responsibility for the buried little bits of legislation they pass, YOU’LL FIND SOMEONE WHO WILL and PRIMARY them right into their seat.

Image created by Grok.