Why we send $$ to other countries. For a while I accepted the
By supporting these people they are able to accomplish things, good for the world, maybe avoiding a war,but I'm not able to believe there is benefit even close to the cost anymore.
If someone can explain why it's a good thing, I'll look at it.
Till then, Phht..

I didn't say not to trade, but sending billions and we're terribly in debt. It makes no sense to me.
Oversight? Yeah.. Accounting, yeah. And what are we getting for all that money?
I'm not seeing it as any kind of good for America.

thumperclone wrote on 12/05/24 at 12:59:43:


What do you,
have to pay,
for someone,
to be your friend ?

We don’t know what we’re getting for our money.  It’s an open ended question, because we don’t know what would happen if we didn’t.  It’s like buying life insurance.  You only win the bet if you croak while the policy is in force.

Would Israel still exist without US support?  Certainly you see some benefit in having an ally in the region, right?  Ukraine - just suppose to cede the Russian occupied territory to them.  Where does it end?

We can go down an entire list of “what if we didn’t support” countries, and we DON’T KNOW what would happen.  So we pay up, and place a wager that we wouldn’t like the outcome.  Think about it - there is a real risk that socialist and communist countries that you loathe would take over territory and become extremely powerful.

Then what….The US is standing there strong with 100s of millions of people wanting to come here.  We’ve already seen illegal immigration isn’t very popular.  So…we should pay up so they can stay where they are and not destroyed.  

It also lets our enemies know we won’t put up with their crap even when it’s not our neck on the line.

It does need to be reasonable, but some level of support is appropriate in my mind.

Committing $1 billion to the African continent when it seems as if there’s no place on earth (other than US government perhaps) where money gets lost in a black hole more so than Africa.

I’m not sure what the solution is for the African continent but I doubt it’s another billion dollars. You can argue that money could be better spent here, but you could also argue that money could be better not spend at all.

In 2023, the US spent about $9.5 billion on donations for humanitarian aid around the world.  If you divide that by 330 million people in the US, it works out to about $0.55 per week per person.  So if you’re the sole breaded winner in your household, you’ll have to do some math to figure out your big outlay of cash.

The argument that’s always used by selfish and greedy bastards is that financial assistance should be voluntary.  That’s just dandy.  Then you look at rich folks (let’s pick on Elon Musk) - how much do they give of their money that they could never spend in 1000 lifetimes.

The vast amount of money that the US gives is done through non-profit organizations and doesn’t go into a black hole of corrupt foreign officials hands.  Could non-profit organizations be more efficient - sure.

I feel like an ASPCA commercial.  For less than $0.10 per day, we can make a huge difference for those suffering around the globe.

Some people are just plain ugly selfish a$$holes that don’t care about anyone except themself.  Musk with all his money tasked with a government role to reduce the size of government - for what?  So the money can be spent elsewhere, and Trump can give his companies more contracts and money?  These are the same rich a$$holes that want to greedily quibble over bumping up their employees hourly rate from $10/hr to $10.50/hr.  Here’s your $0.20/hour annual raise - be grateful, take it or leave it.  Musk could do the whole $9.5 billion himself and it would be less that 5% of his massive wealth.

JOG wrote on 12/06/24 at 06:04:38:


The current administration approved more than $1.5 billion in direct assistance to Hurricanes Helene and Milton survivors. Additionally, over $1.2 billion was approved for debris removal and emergency protective measures.

Think how much more we could do if the uber wealthy greedy a$$holes actually paid their fair share of taxes.  It's disgusting how multi-millionaires and billionaires like Trump can brag about how they 'legally' use the tax code and don't pay any federal income tax.

[/quote]

Israel should not get a dime from America. If this means the Muhammadans conquer it, so be it. Israelis HATE Christians with a burning passion. They even use a different addition symbol so they don't have to write a cross. They spit on Priests and nuns. It is an absolute disgrace that a single cent of my tax money goes to people that hate me.

Do not think I support Palestine either. Hamas would wipe out every Christian if they could.

[/quote]

Wow.  I'm not sure where you get your information from, but citing some "one off" episodes of anti-Christian acts by some extemists doesn't warrant a generalization of an entire country.  For the last several decades, 80-90% of Israeli people view their relationship with the USA as positive (Pew Research) - and, in turn, Christians.  In fact, many Jews and Christians view Judism and Christianity being extremely similar (Abrahamic, but not Islamic).

I think the USA would be very remiss to abandon and alienate Israel and their importance as an ally in a volatile region.