Foreign Aid Policy (Policy Proposal #7)

Proposed Policy

A) Absolutely no foreign aid to be allowed except for humanitarian emergencies. All aid must be in the form of exported goods from the US. (food, equipment, etc) If distribution of the goods must be able to be controlled and audited. No cash distributions allowed to foreign governments or foreign organizations.

B) All foreign aid must have an expiration date not to exceed two years.

C) All foreign aid must be published for the public to view in a simplified, one page condensed format. The public needs to clearly understand where our tax dollars are going, what amount, and why. This should be published yearly.

D) For humanitarian and foreign aid purposes, set-up a government sponsored web site for voluntary tax deductable contributions. A percentage of the funds would be dedicated for administration and auditing of this system.

What would this accomplish?

A) Foreign aid must be defined, it is out of control. Shipping goods instead of cash promotes our economy and reduces corruption.

B) Things in Washington tend to become long term commitments with a steady or increasing budget. Foreign aid should be a temporary action. We must have closure.

C) Clear reporting with goals and objectives are necessary. This creates transparency and will force the administration to act in our best interests.

D) This is the preferred long term solution to foreign aid. The US public is very giving for good causes.

Commentary

Our internal infrastructure needs improvements before we send funds outside of our borders. Therefore we must truly justify that the foreign aid is truly needed. Sending cash does NOT work without checks and balances. Foreign governments mismanage most of the funds and this fuels corruption. We don’t need to use foreign aid as a means to prop up governments or make them like us.