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Trump backer Timothy Mellon identified as donor of $130m for US troop pay during government shutdown (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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A reclusive billionaire, anti-tax crusader and major financial backer of Donald Trump has been named as the anonymous private donor who gave $130m to the government to help pay US troops during the federal shutdown that is now in its fourth week, according to the New York Times.

The donation, which equates to about $100 per service member, appears to be a potential violation of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from spending funds in advance or in excess of congressional appropriations – and from accepting voluntary services “except in the case of emergency involving the safety of human life or the protection of property”.

Potential penalties for violations include both administrative and criminal sanctions such as suspension or removal from duty, fines and imprisonment.

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That's the thing that shallow political thinkers, like MAGAs ( and many others) don't understand. The government's economy is not like a household economy. The idea that we should run the government like we run our households or we run a company is ludicrous.

First of all, recall the largest corporation you can think of. Then think of five more companies that size. Now think of the size of ALL the companies in America. Well, the government is literally larger than ALL of them COMBINED. It doesn't operate like a company, it operates like the entity that CONTROLS and REGULATES companies, and companies HATE that.

Running a business and running the government require two different skills sets, since one of them is profit based and the other isn't. Businessmen get successful, and they now think that they should apply their proven principles of success to the government, and save us, but they always fail, because the government is not a business. It has different objectives and responsibilities other than profit and balanced accounts, and businesspeople have a hard time convincing themselves of that.

That's why, in my book, any billionaire is automatically disqualified for office. They generally do not understand the job at a fundamental level. When a businessman says that he's going to clean up the national debt and make our country "solvent" again, I know he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about about.