If I Have Gazillions Of Dollars In Credit Card Debt, Should I Be Sending Friends Gazillions?
The question is about aid to Israel. We are seriously in trouble in this country thanks to the vast debt hole we've spent our way into.
Rand Paul gives this sort of bullshit reason we shouldn't be giving aid to Israel -- like they're a bad welfare mother, and if only they'd lose access to to those welfare checks, they'd stop pumping out children they can't pay for.
From NewsMax, an article headlined "Rand Paul: Less Aid to Israel Would Increase Its Sovereignty," by Stephen Feller:
If financial aid to Israel were slowly decreased over time, it would increase the Jewish state's sovereignty because they wouldn't need to get permission from the U.S. every time they need to defend themselves against aggressive neighbors, Sen. Rand Paul said on Monday.Paul said that while he knows the idea of decreasing any kind of foreign aid is a "minority opinion" in Washington, it will be a lot harder for America to help others "if we are out of money," reported Fox News.
...The Kentucky senator said that first, aid would have to be pulled from questionably friendly countries such as Egypt and Pakistan before considering how and when to start cutting the flow of money to Israel.
Spoken like man who wants to stand up for his principles -- halfway up -- so as not to totally wave goodbye to the Jewish vote.
But should we really be handing out money to any countries, friend or foe? These are your taxpayer dollars.
Where do you stand?
We should help friends where we can. Israel is one of our best friends. If we have to do across the board 10-20% cuts, okay, but eliminating aid to allies is bad strategy.
The 73rd Virgin at January 8, 2013 10:35 PM
We should help other countries if there's something in it for us. Alliances can be useful.
NicoleK at January 9, 2013 1:51 AM
Gee - is there any evidence that Israel gets "permission" from us?
If they started shouting "Allahu Akbar!", there would be a completely different picture painted of their actions, even as some of them might be seen as vital to their own existence.
These are the people that killed Americans on the USS Liberty.
Radwaste at January 9, 2013 3:17 AM
Friendships you buy are not worth much. The concept is much akin to prostitution. You aren't getting love for your money. Which is not to say that the transaction is worthless, but don't kid yourself. Foreign aid is a tool to get others to do what we want. if it's not worth it, stop.
More specifically related to Israel, there was this nastiness in Europe, after which we and others said "Never again." I wasn't alive for it, but being a fairly conservative sort, believe in keeping promises, even when it becomes inconvenient.
MarkD at January 9, 2013 5:14 AM
Israel does a lot of our dirty work for us. I personally don't like that we do it that way, but as long as we are, I think it behooves us to chip in financially. I'm with Rand in opposing foreign aid generally, but Israel is an exceptional situation -- an ally in a strategic part of the world that faces grave peril daily. And that's ignoring the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel regarding the post-1945 fate of the Jews, which I'm not ignoring. (To reference back to MarkD's post, we're finding out now that a lot of those people who said "never again" back in 1945 had their fingers crossed.)
It's pretty clear that the American public, by and large, has rejected the Bush Doctrine. If we are going to go to a Fortress America defensive posture, it behooves us to have eyes, ears, and fists in parts of the world where threats may arise. Israel is one of the best, and I don't have a problem with contributing to that cause.
Cousin Dave at January 9, 2013 6:58 AM
It is the questioners - not Paul - who single out Israel. Because they know it's a highly visible item on the foreign aid list.
Paul wants to cut foreign aid across the board - and he is forthright about the Muslim world being far less valuable/loyal than Israel.
You can disagree with - and dismantle - Paul's naive nostalgia for pre-WWI isolation, but... the implied charge of anti-Semitism is being used unfairly to discredit Paul.
I've had enough of the leftie elite using shock labels to discredit politicians. Argue the merits.
Ben David at January 9, 2013 10:53 AM
What Cousin Dave said (with the caveat that I don't know squat about the Bush Doctrine, and am not going to google it now).
Michelle at January 9, 2013 11:29 AM
Most foreign aid should be stopped.
It doesn't buy us much, and much of it going to 3rd world nations ends up being siphoned off into the local dictator or warlord's piggy bank.
That said, foreign aid is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the deficits being racked up by the current administration.
I R A Darth Aggie at January 9, 2013 11:33 AM
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