There they go again–wasting our money that we worked for.
[Thanks to Susan for the nooze tip.]
I wonder if I could’ve gotten a car loan when I was ten years old. I can’t see my parents consenting to that. But that was then, and now is now–
The Golden Age of Government Tossing Public Money Around Like It Was Confetti.
The Dept. of Government Efficiency has reported $312 million in loans handed out to recipients 11 years old or younger (“children,” in plain English)–“thousands of loans,” says DOGE–almost 5,600 of them doled out in 2020-21 during the height of the COVID scare (https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/03/10/doge-says-children-aged-11-and-under-were-granted-312m-in-loans-during-coronavirus-pandemic/).
How is some kid supposed to repay such a loan? With proceeds from his paper route? A lemonade stand?
Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration has also been approving loans–supposedly–to persons well over 100 years old… who may or may not exist.
How did their records get so screwed up? They couldn’t have done it on purpose, could they? Just askin’.
I’ve met people who seem to think that the government is fair game game for any kind of scam. Small business loans taken out with no intention of repayment, and likewise with student loans. What people don’t understand is that the government has nothing of its own. Government money comes from taxpayers. This can be put to good use, such as for disaster relief where tax money from the unaffected is used to help victims of a natural disaster.
Public works are much the same; an airport, seeded by public money, can bring a lot of benefit, economic and personal, to a region. Businesses seeded by SBA loans can serve communities and make life better for all parties. But when an SBA loan is used with no intention of actually creating a viable business, the only person benefitted is the person obtaining the loan. Supposedly there are safeguards in place to prevent abuse and require repayment, but it looks like there is still some abuse taking place. IMO, this instance is an egregious example, but I suspect that it’s not all that uncommon.
My question is simply; who would have approved a loan to a child? IMHO, that person should face some serious consequences, and especially so if there is favoritism or some sort of kickback scheme uncovered.
Remember: No one comes home poor from Congress.
Amazingly so.