Pence Would Be Worse, Take That On Faith

Meanwhile, for those of us still convinced that Mike Pence would somehow be less awful at this whole presidential thing than Trump, have I got news for you!

Vice President Pence on Wednesday said that President Trump has instructed the State Department to stop funding certain "ineffective" United Nations relief efforts and to instead provide humanitarian assistance directly through USAID and "faith-based groups." 

In a speech at the In Defense of Christians annual Solidarity Dinner for Christians in the Middle East, Pence excoriated the U.N., saying the international body has "often failed to help the most vulnerable communities especially religious minorities."

"We will no longer rely on the United Nations alone to assist persecuted Christians and minorities in the wake of genocide and the atrocities of terrorist groups," Pence said to applause.

"The United States will work hand in hand from this day forward with faith-based groups and private orgs to help those who are persecuted for their faith. This is the moment, now is the time, and America will support these people in their hour of need." 

He did not specify what U.N. programs or initiatives the U.S. will no longer fund. 

Those faith-based groups, Pence said, have repeatedly had funding requests denied by the U.N., despite "proven track records." 

"Those days are over," Pence said. "Our fellow Christians and all who are persecuted in the Middle East should not have to rely on multinational institutions when America can help them directly."

Oh, but those specific programs will be easy to spot: any program that gives relief aid of any sort to the Palestinians, for starters.  Mysteriously, programs that continue to send money to Saudi extremists or the Syrian regime won't be touched, of course.

The real issue is the US now bypassing the UN to work with faith-based groups and private organizations to distribute billions in foreign aid, and you'd better belief the level of graft and corruption resulting from this will make the current waste in the UN look like pocket change.

The other issue is that the US can happily withhold aid from those who aren't devoutly Christian enough.  No contraception for you!  State-sponsored religion, we've got it.

As bad as America is under the Klep-Trump-cracy, we'd be a 100% Handmaid's Tale Christian Taliban theocracy under Pence.