S.4834 – Another Grant Program: No.

S.4834 – Another Grant Program: No. Proving that you can't judge a bill by its title, the "Protect Our Children Act of 2022 spends $60 million over the next two years as grants to local and state law enforcement to "implement effective responses to internet-facilitated child sexual exploitation and internet crimes against children." Although the cause is vitally important, as with most grant programs, there is no independent audit of its effectiveness. My observation is that much grant money disappears into the salaries of various groups and agencies who will write glowing reports of their work and apply for more grants next year.
Grants are taken from ALL taxpayers and given only to agencies in selected states. If this is a federal responsibility, it should be addressed federally, with all jurisdictions benefiting from the funds.
Grants have become the third biggest expenditure of the federal government, behind only Social Security and national defense. We give away a half-trillion dollars a year in this manner – roughly $4,000 from an average family's taxes -- with little oversight, little accountability, little follow-up and little results.
Meanwhile, the problems they are supposed to solve seem to get worse.