SamSaid!

AID

     The other day I read an article describing some outlandish expenditures buried under the title of Foreign Aid. It had something to do with the life expectancy of Camels and Yaks. That just added to my unease about how our tax dollars are being spent. As I visualize it, the Feds take my money back to Washington somewhere  and dump it into a huge pit. It's identity to me is long gone. Then every once in a while some unknown person comes a long with a big bucket and fills it up with “aid” for Uruguay, Nigeria, North Korea, Egypt, Uganda, India, Russia, Guatemala. Argentina, etc., etc., and the list goes on and on (this page isn't long enough). As taxpayers, we never see how much is taken or how it is spent. We are just to believe that it is “good” to help out our less fortunate bretheren.

     Now I don't quarrel with the humanitarian aspects of helping others  –  particularly those in dire straits with little or no chance to getting their heads above water. No doubt, we are wealthy and can afford it  –  at least up to a point. But foreign aid grants become permananet and too many of the recipients just come to expect it year after year  –  you know, “Hey Big Uncle, where is our foreign aid? And this time don't be so cheap and chintzy”. They just take it for granted, and we accept some sort of obligation, forever. No doubt, other countries resent us for our success, strength and wealth, and they gag at the thought of a sincere “Thank You, Americans”. If you are awaiting a foreign aid “thank you”, don't hold your breath. And also, don't insult them by attaching conditions to the aid package. Just let them blow the money any way they see fit.

     Some time back, a pundit quipped that forign aid was “taking money from the poorer citizens of a wealthy country and giving it to the wealthier citizens of poor country”. He sure got that right –  the Swiss bank accounts tell the tale   And we are not talking about pocket change here. It is millions and billions of dollars  –  every year. It was Senator Everett Dirksen (Ill.) who back in the 1960s offered the now famous sardonic comment about government spending, “…a million here, a million there, –  and pretty soon it adds up to real money”.  I wonder what he would say about a billion here, a billion there??

     But don't worry about it. Once the Government has your tax dollars, they aren't yours any more. How it is spent should be of no concern. Right??