DebraSWelch

BREAKING: ANOTHER SLAP IN THE FACE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC! Trump is spending $5 million in taxpayer money to gold-plate horse statues in Washington while slashing social services for millions of Americans. Donald Trump is cutting health care for the poor. He's gutting food assistance for hungry families. He's eliminating housing programs for struggling Americans. And he's spending $5 million to put 23.75-karat gold leaf on four horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial. Although many will wish this is satire, it’s not. The National Park Service awarded a no-bid contract in mid-April to The Gilder's Studio, a Maryland gilding company, to "conserve and regild" four monumental bronze equestrian sculptures along the roads surrounding the Lincoln Memorial — in time for America's 250th birthday on July 4th. The contract documents confirm it was "NOT COMPETED" and awarded to "ONLY ONE SOURCE." The statues currently look fine. They've been standing since their first restoration in the 1970s. Their gold-toned coating is admittedly a bit faded and patchy. Their stone bases have some cracks. But five million dollars worth of crisis? Not exactly. This is the same administration that is using the July 4th deadline as justification for bypassing competitive bidding across Washington — handing no-bid contracts to handpicked vendors for everything from the gold horse statues to the leaking Reflecting Pool, where a company Trump selected because it cleaned his golf club pool charged a 20 percent profit margin and still can't stop the leaks. The Interior Department has handed out nearly $100 million in contracts in a rushed beautification spree, most without full competition. A conservative watchdog already noted the obvious: "We've known that this is going to be America's 250th anniversary for 250 years. It's not like we didn't have time to plan." Meanwhile, Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" slashes Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars, cuts SNAP food assistance, and eliminates programs that keep working families in their homes. But the horse statues will be gleaming with nearly 24-karat gold by July 4th. Because that's what this administration's priorities look like in contract form. Gold horses. No health care. No competitive bidding. No shame. This is the Marie Antoinette administration — and they're not even hiding it anymore. Please like and share this post to spread the news of what should be a HUGE scandal.