Biden’s Government-wide Vote Buying Program – Betsy McCaughey

Don’t rely solely on polls to bet on the upcoming presidential election. Look at the billions of taxpayer dollars that President Joe Biden is giving to “community organizations” in “disadvantaged communities” to tip the scales of the election.

Community organizer-turned-president Barack Obama was a master of machine politics, using federal tax dollars to transform community-based organizations – left-wing nonprofits – into a fifth estate. Their workers, paid with taxpayer money but not bound by government regulations, could take to the streets during elections and increase turnout. Biden expanded on Obama’s strategy by using billions of dollars instead of the usual millions.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) made headlines last week with the revelation that the Environmental Protection Agency had awarded the Climate Justice Alliance a $50 million “environmental justice” grant in December 2023. Capito is distressed to learn that the Climate Justice Alliance pledges that “the path to climate justice is through a free Palestine.”

In fact, the Climate Justice Alliance is pursuing a full agenda of radical action, including fighting “political oppression” and “putting race, gender and class at the center” of its climate solutions.

But $50 million for the Climate Justice Alliance is a drop in the bucket.

If members of Congress had read the Inflation Reduction Act before passing it – which is a novel idea – they would have known that the bill provides the Environmental Protection Agency with $2.8 billion in environmental protection and climate justice block grants” (Sec. 60201). This is a license to hand out walks… around money to many political activists, not just the Climate Justice Alliance.

Another recipient: The New York Immigration Coalition, which describes itself as a “coalition of immigrant and refugee organizations” demanding more government services and political influence.

The same goes for the New Jersey Immigrant Justice Alliance, another beneficiary. The words “climate” and “environment” do not appear anywhere on these groups’ websites or literature.

Lawmakers may have assumed the money was earmarked for climate improvement, but the IRA’s fine print allows moolah to be used to “facilitate the involvement of marginalized communities in local, state, and federal public processes, such as advisory groups, workshops, rulemaking.” Translation: elections.

How easy is it to get cake? Piece of cake. The EPA says it wants to “alleviate much of the burden that the federal grant process places on small, resource-constrained community organizations supporting underserved communities and marginalized populations.” In short, no jumping through hoops.

The money can only go to a disadvantaged community or a southern border town. There are 27,521 on the census map, according to Biden’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which targets non-English speakers, people with diabetes and other factors that largely affect largely minority populations. disadvantaged communities. These communities traditionally vote for Democrats.

Adding permissions to border cities is an interesting change. As waves of immigrants exceed the resources of these cities, Democrats are increasingly divided over Biden’s open borders policy. Money can increase support.

In the first week of his presidency, Biden announced the Justice40 initiative by executive order, requiring 40% of many types of federal spending – not just EPA grants – to go to “disadvantaged communities.”

The Department of Energy is giving money to these “disadvantaged communities” using so-called “community benefit plans” and promising that application requirements will be “intentionally flexible.”

The playbook started with the Affordable Care Act. The ACA, or “Obamacare,” authorized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award “community transformation grants.” Community Health Boards, a typical recipient, promised that their mission was to support “social justice.” It distributed 65% of the money to partner community groups that promoted “voter engagement,” provided “individual street education,” or led tenant rights and anti-fracking and drilling efforts. And you thought the ACA covered the uninsured.

Ten years after Obama, Biden is tasking every agency and department of the federal government with promoting voter engagement.

Biden’s community donations pale in comparison to vote buying on student debt cancellation, which currently totals $620 billion. But money from social grants goes directly into the hands of political activists who know what to do with it.

Tell your representative in Congress to read the bills before voting on them and remove these public giving provisions that make a mockery of democracy.

Betsy McCaughey is the former Lieutenant Governor of New York and chairwoman of the Committee to Reduce Deaths from Infections. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To learn more about Betsy McCaughey and read articles by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Ernie Journeys on Unsplash