If you took all the money the US spends on foreign aid and divided it evenly among all US citizens, it would mean about $120 per person per year.

Or 1/10th what the next stimulus is supposed to be.
Of all the really dumb conceits that are common among conservatives, the idea that we would miraculously have all the money we need if we would just do away with foreign aid is among the most ignorant.
The average American thinks the US spends more than 25x what it does as a percentage of the federal budget on foreign aid.
If you really believe that America should pull all foreign aid and cede ground across the globe to an increasingly interventionist and hostile China, that’s your prerogative.

But don’t pretend it’ll balance the budget or meaningfully improve the lives of everyday Americans.

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More from @DrewHolden360

1 Jan
🧵THREAD🧵

The Year’s Worst Media Moments: 2020 Edition

Below is a top 10 of common media takes & narratives that aged, well, imperfectly.

Starting w/ #10: remember when Trump was going to use the Post Office to steal the election? @JoyAnnReid, @VICE, @ajplus & @ananavarro do. ImageImageImageImage
#9: Early COVID coverage

I tried to cut some slack on early coronavirus predictions. But it’s worth reflecting on the way we talked about the virus back when it first started & how many people were so confidently wrong, like @Slate, @USATODAY, @thehill & @businessinsider. ImageImageImageImage
#8: Masks

The worst specific coverage around the early outbreak was on masks.
Especially because the pro-mask crowd can be so militant these days, it’s worth remembering what the conversation looked like back then.

Some of the worst were @CNN, @MSNBC, @ABC & @washingtonpost. ImageImageImageImage
Read 14 tweets
31 Dec 20
🧵Thread🧵

Today @bradyleonard & I agreed the 2020 man of the year is @RonDeSantisFL for his leadership in response to COVID, despite endless attacks from the media.

To add some context, I’ve put those attacks side by side with coverage of @NYGovCuomo.

Spot the difference?👇
As of today, NY’s deaths per 100k from coronavirus (188) is about double Florida’s (96). Florida and Gov. DeSantis seem to be doing something right in that regard.

But you would have no idea that was the case if you spend your days listening/watching/reading @MSNBC ImageImage
The worst offender had to be @CNN, which is no surprise given Cuomo’s brother works there.

But I mean. Cmon guys. This is egregious. ImageImage
Read 31 tweets
30 Dec 20
Miley Cyrus is both better and more musically consequential than The Beetles.
Listen I don’t care how those bowl cut British weirdos spell their name
“What if we took The Beach Boys and made them British and, naturally, less fun?”
Read 6 tweets
30 Dec 20
Know I’m late to this party but the new Miley slaps.
I will die on the hill of Miley doing more to save rock and roll than whatever shitty bands existed in the 80s
Beatles Eagles what was it with all the weird animals
Read 4 tweets
30 Dec 20
I’ve seen others do this, so a quick🧵of the pieces I’m most proud of having written in 2020.

Starting w/ my first piece ever in print. As someone who dwells on the retrospective, I think this, for @nytimes early in the pandemic, held up tragically well.
google.com/amp/s/www.nyti…
I explored how things have changed since in a subsequent piece for @nytimes, focused on the unintended tragedies of our response to the coronavirus.

The lockdown has enormous, often overlooked, consequences. I unpack some of them here: google.com/amp/s/www.nyti…
That isn’t all that I wrote about the lockdown and coronavirus.

This one, for @dcexaminer, explores why defaulting to what medical/scientific experts think is best fundamentally misunderstands the role of public policy. google.com/amp/s/www.wash…
Read 9 tweets
29 Dec 20
Despite all the hand-wringing about Georgia (remember this piece?) and Florida, each state has a death rate per capita that’s **less than half** of what New Jersey’s is.

GA - 98 per 100,000
FL - 96 per 100,000
NJ - 205 (!!) per 100,000
For context - and w/ a nod that we don’t have all the data from some places, particularly poorer countries or those lying about their totals (looking at you, China) - if NJ were a country, it’s morality rate would be ~25% higher than **any other country in the world**
(You can run the numbers yourself if you don’t believe me. The highest number of deaths per capita right now is Belgium, with 158 deaths per 100K.) statista.com/statistics/110…
Read 5 tweets

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