Congress has passed a $2.3 trillion 5,592 page spending bill. It combines the $900 Billion “Stimulus Bill,” with another $1,400 billion Omnibus bill. Everything was largely written by lobbyists and contains thousands of pages of pork and secretive measures. The combining of the Stimulus Bill with the Omnibus bill seems like an intentional act of obfuscation. They combined the bills to help shield everyone involved from criticism.
There are many secretive measures hidden inside the bill as well. While the bill actually allocates $1.4 Billion for border wall funding, it balances it out by slashing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE]. There will be a $431 million reduction in annual funding for ICE.
The Stimulus bill also makes an official declaration that the most recent election in Belarus was full of fraud.
Another shock measure, to make streaming unlicensed content a felony, was inserted into the bill. The news has sent shock waves across certain parts of the internet. Particularly those who include footage of video games and/or other people’s content as part of their own live streams. The measure was inserted into the bill by Senator Thom Tillis. He is now playing defense and downplaying the measure.
The first thing to note is that only $166 billion of the $900 billion “stimulus,” or 18.44%, goes to direct payments. Adults will receive a check for $600 and families will get a $600 check for each child.
Tens of Billions will go to foreign nations. Though not to feed people. Instead, it will fund things like “gender issues” in Pakistan. The money will be used to enrich the millionaire and billionaire run NGOs.
Some of the money has nothing to do with economic relief and is simply money for the military-industrial complex. For example, the bill includes $500 million to develop a new surface-to-air missile defense system for Israel. Lobbyists for Israel defended the $500 million expense saying it had already been promised by Congress in 2016 and was overdue. This sum of money alone is more than the total sum being slashed from ICE in 2021.
$500 million for border security in Jordan (page 407)
$100 million for border security in Lebanon, Egypt, Oman, and Tunisia (page 415)
$169.8 million to Vietnam, including $19 million to remediate dioxins (page 1476).
Unspecified funds to “continue support for not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Kabul, Afghanistan that are accessible to both women and men in a coeducational environment” (page 1477).
$198.3 million to Bangladesh, including $23.5 million to support Burmese refugees and $23.3 million for “democracy programs” (page 1485).
$130.3 million to Nepal for “development and democracy programs” (page 1485).
Pakistan: $15 million for “democracy programs” and $10 million for “gender programs” (page 1486).
Sri Lanka: Up to $15 million “for the refurbishing of a high endurance cutter,” which is a type of patrol boat (page 1489).
$505.9 million to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama to “address key factors that contribute to the migration of unaccompanied, undocumented minors to the United States” (pages 1490-1491).
$461.4 million to Colombia for programs related to counternarcotics and human rights (pages 1494-1496).
$74.8 million to the “Caribbean Basin Security Initiative” (page 1498).
$33 million “for democracy programs for Venezuela” (page 1498).
Unspecified amount to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago “for assistance for communities in countries supporting or otherwise impacted by refugees from Venezuela” (page 1499).
$132 million “for assistance for Georgia” (page 1499).
$453 million “for assistance for Ukraine” (page 1500).
$75 million for “humanitarian aid” to the West Bank and Gaza