America Last?

Things are so backwards and lost in America.

Case in point:

The “America First” amendment — introduced by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — would have offset the House-passed $7.85 billion aid package while providing an additional $2.5 billion to be used for Harvey recovery efforts or preparation for Hurricane Irma.

Paul’s office noted that the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) latest information shows that roughly $20 billion in unobligated foreign aid is currently available, which the senator believes would be better spent on domestic emergencies.

“There have been people who argued that our $20 trillion debt is the number one threat to our national security. So what I am asking is: Why don’t we pay for this?” Paul said on the floor ahead of the vote. “Why don’t we simply take some money that we were going to spend someone else for something not as valuable in another country and why don’t we spend it here?”

Amen.

Further questions: Should the federal government be involved in charity in the first place? Should the federal government be involved in subsidizing private businesses after a natural disaster? My answer is no, to both. But I recognize that’s a futile question to even raise, at this point in time. Even conservatives and Trump supporters take it for granted that of course government must do all of these things, and far more.

But even if you accept that premise, Senator Paul is exactly right: Why don’t we spend money on charities and businesses in the United States? Why all the foreign aid? Most other governments are authoritarian and dictatorial. They’re not even close to democratic, much less republics respectful of individual rights. This means most or all of the money we give to other countries goes to their governments. The choice should be obvious, particularly as the national debt is set to go up yet another $2 trillion, with no end in sight. Cutting foreign aid should be easy!

Our government is more lost, more out of control and more on the wrong course than even the most dissatisfied among us even realize.

Senator Paul is stating the obvious: If the federal government is to spend all this money it does not have, shouldn’t that money at least go to disaster relief in America before going to dysfunctional and generally dictatorial regimes in foreign countries? This isn’t rocket science. But it is, because Americans have lost control of their government.

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