69.14: International Assistance
Other Information:
America’s Generosity: International Assistance that Makes a Difference -- Americans are the most generous people in the world.
Apart from the taxpayer dollars our government donates abroad, our foundations, educational institutions, faith-based groups,
and committed men and women of charity devote billions of dollars and volunteer hours every year to help the poor and needy
around the world. This effort, along with commercial investment from the private sector, dwarfs the results from official
development assistance, most of which is based on an outdated, statist, government-to-government model, the proven breeding
ground for corruption and mismanagement by foreign kleptocrats. Limiting foreign aid spending helps keep taxes lower, which
frees more resources in the private and charitable sectors, whose giving tends to be more effective and efficient. Foreign
aid should serve our national interest, an essential part of which is the peaceful development of less advanced and vulnerable
societies in critical parts of the world. Assistance should be seen as an alternative means of keeping the peace, far less
costly in both dollars and human lives than military engagement. The economic success and political progress of former aid
recipients, from Latin America to East Asia, has justified our investment in their future. U.S. aid should be based on the
model of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, for which foreign governments must, in effect, compete for the dollars by showing
respect for the rule of law, free enterprise, and measurable results. In short, aid money should follow positive outcomes,
not pleas for more cash in the same corrupt official pockets. The effectiveness of our foreign aid has been limited by the
cultural agenda of the current Administration, attempting to impose on foreign countries, especially the peoples of Africa,
legalized abortion and the homosexual rights agenda. At the same time, faith-based groups – the sector that has had the best
track record in promoting lasting development – have been excluded from grants because they will not conform to the administration’s
social agenda. We will reverse this tragic course, encourage more involvement by the most effective aid organizations, and
trust developing peoples to build their future from the ground up.
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