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Sadly, people having no concept of what their government is actually doing with the money it takes from them shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
By Ken Hackett Ken Hackett – Mon Mar 7, 12:17 pm ET
Baltimore – If a poll shows support for a position that politicians espouse, they will point to this finding as proof that they are doing the will of the people. If a poll shows the opposite, they are likely to dismiss it, saying pollsters shouldn’t be running the government.
So what are our politicians to do with this? Polls show that in this big-deficit, belt-tightening time, Americans think that foreign aid should be cut. But they also think that it should be ten times the amount it is now.
Say what?
That’s right. According to pollsters, the vast majority of Americans polled say the US should put foreign aid first in line for the chopping block. When you ask them how much of the federal budget is now spent on such aid, they say 25 percent. And how much should it be? They say about 10 percent.
But the fact is that foreign aid is only about 1 percent of the budget. Not 25 percent, as most Americans polled think. So slashing it to 10 percent – the level they think it should be at – would actually be a huge increase. This is just one of the misconceptions about foreign aid that exist in America. And it’s these misconceptions that need to be cleared up as we enter this budget season, or millions around the world are going to suffer. Ultimately, foreign aid isn’t just good for those we help; it’s good for America.
Foreign aid isn't just handoutsFor one thing, many think foreign aid is simply a matter of handouts, giving people food and clothing and such. Actually, all sorts of things come under foreign aid. Some of US foreign aid funding goes to Israel and Egypt, as part of the Camp David accords. Some supports the needs of other governments. And a portion is aimed at helping the poor in the developing world. Certainly there are food assistance programs to help the hungry and vulnerable – often children – but there is still so much more to foreign aid. For example, foreign assistance develops agriculture so that self-reliance can grow in areas where, now, one bad harvest or one dry rainy season can create a need for emergency aid.
Other programs bring water, sanitation, and health services – really the essentials of life – to the poorest of the poor. Still others build up civic structures so that people can begin to have a stronger voice in shaping their own fate. Self-reliance is the focus and goal of such foreign aid today.
As members of a faith-based organization, we at Catholic Relief Services do not hesitate to make the moral argument for such spending. While we understand that all must sacrifice in this time of financial austerity, we do not think it is right to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. We are confident that the majority of Americans, of all faiths and beliefs, share that moral understanding.
Foreign aid does workI suspect that much of the opposition to foreign aid arises from thinking that it does not work, that we keep giving out more and more and get little in return. I am the first to recognize that foreign aid has gone through many needed changes over the years. Too often during the cold-war era, it was used not to help the people who needed it, but to buy the loyalty of their often-corrupt governments.
But take a look at the growth in the developing world since the end of the cold war. With peace and political progress coming to many developing countries, their economies boomed. Trade with the developed world, including the United States, grew exponentially. The boom went through the 1990s into the 2000s. The economic crisis slowed things, but many countries are again on an upward trend.
Aid helped provide many of the basic ingredients needed for this economic growth – health, agriculture, water, sanitation, education. The bipartisan PEPFAR program (The Unites States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief), for instance, is great example of an aid program that really works. It was and is crucial in stemming the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. If that epidemic takes off again, it could cripple those emerging economies.
Foreign aid programs are held to high standards for efficiency and impact these days. Accountability is key. If programs cannot show that they are working, they lose their funding. As with any endeavor, there’s always room for improvement, but the idea that the US is simply throwing money at problems, which results in throwing money away, is a big misconception.
Not just a moral duty, but an investmentThe point is, foreign aid aimed at the developing world isn’t just a moral duty; it’s a good investment. It is much cheaper to help develop the economies of these countries now than to intervene later – either economically or militarily – when a crisis hits. It is much cheaper to keep communities from failing than to try to reconstruct them when they do. And in our globalized, interconnected world, any failed community is a liability for all of us.
Fortunately, our small foreign aid budget has a disproportionately huge impact, bringing health and well-being to millions of people and goodwill toward the United States. Making cuts to 1 percent of the US discretionary spending budget won’t significantly cut the deficit or save the budget. Because there is such a tiny percentage of our spending at stake, in this case, you literally can’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor. But trying to do so would have consequences for the millions of people we are helping to become self-reliant. Funding these programs is a no brainer.
Ken Hackett is president of Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian organization of the Catholic community in the United States.
(Christian Science Monitor article at Yahoo.news)
Sadly, people having no concept of what their government is actually doing with the money it takes from them shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
cut down military spending = problem solved
and i can only imagine what will happen when the baby boomers retire...
Last edited by The Reckoning; 03-07-2011 at 07:10 PM.
I was talking to a friend the other day about what sort of pie chart you would have if it were based on what the average American thinks the budget is comprised of.
There has to be one out there somewhere.
Boutons is gonna be pissed when he finds out this is from a religious organization.........and a Catholic one at that.
"Christian Science" is an oxymoron anyway.
#WINNING
You know that the Christian Science Monitor just reported the story right?
Combining the fact that most Americans are totally disengaged from political and civic life, with being lied to, BIG black=white/up=down lies, non-stop by the VRWC, no surprise.
America is the stingiest wealthy country with foreign aid as %age of GNP.
Now, if you want foreign destruction, America Is World Champion Number One.
FIFY. Damn near one out of every two dollars our government is spending right now is borrowed. Cuts to defense need to happen, but defense cuts alone aren't going to get us out of this mess. En lements need to take a massive haircut as well.
The baby boomers are going to be alright. It's everyone who comes after them who are going to get ed. Any non-boomer who isn't planning on funding their own retirement stands a good chance of spending their golden years in poverty.and i can only imagine what will happen when the baby boomers retire...
thats what i mean...im in that group
I think the best way to get the budget under control is to take away collective bargaining rights from unions...
Same here. Sucks to be us.
Asia's New Arms Race
Click here for an interactive graphic showing % increases in defense spending in the last decade for various pacific powers.As China grows wealthier and builds up its military, other nations in the region are taking note—and amassing weapons of their own.
At Mazagon Dock near the southern tip of Mumbai, hidden behind high concrete walls, hundreds of Indian workers are putting the finishing touches on the hulls of two 217-foot Scorpčne-class attack submarines, the first of six slated to be built over the next few years.
Nearby, workers are adding to India's fleet of stealth frigates and guided-missile destroyers.
The New Arms RaceThis is the first in a series of articles examining how the global military balance is shifting with the world economic order.
.One big reason India is beefing up its arsenal: China.
"It goes without saying that India must be seriously concerned with the rise of China's strategic power, including its military and economic power," says Ashwani Kumar, member of parliament from India's ruling Congress party. "India has consistently opposed an arms race—but India will not be found wanting in taking all measures necessary for the effective safeguarding of its territorial integrity and national interests."
Remember that China and India fought a war in the 60's, and India still controls territory that China considers to be rightfully theirs.
Factor in India's build up with Pakistan's recent fundamentalist shift, add to the mix nuclear weapons, and you have some disturbing trends.
I do agree that there is no small amount of things that can be cut in the defense budget.
BUT
I think we are going to need, within 15 years, a moderate naval build up.
I would encourage everybody reading this to thumb through the article. It is highly informative, and the WSJ should be doing more of them on the subject.
Yup. Now we just need to force those cuts on a block of people who vote in very high %'s, i.e. seniors.
, I hate apathy among young people, they literally can't afford to be as apathetic as they are.
I apologize in advance as I've skimmed this thread, but my guess is that the vast majority of Americans haven't the foggiest idea how much is spent per annum on the national military, or at least how big that is relative to the two major social en lement programs.
I would agree it is probably too much. Not in manpower, but in expensive toys. I would say we need the types we have, just not as many of some on them.
I see the biggest problem is our unaccountable social en lement systems. Not SS and medicare, but everything else. We need more tax payers and less tax users. We need to make everyone on a welfare type system to try to be a producer, else cut them off from en lements. Of course, I would exclude ones like the handicapped. I have no problem taking care of the elderly and handicapped, but adults need to at least try to provide for themselves. Getting these people to work does two things. It reduces the social system expenditures, and creates more tax payers.
Lets be serious. That isn't the future for America. The future is going to be work until you drop dead because you can't afford to retire.
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