$37,680,000,000: That’s How Much the U.S. Spent on Foreign Aid in 2012 — Chart

That's small: only around 1 percent of federal budget expenditures. Very likely, larger sums were used to bail out the U.S. financial rich.

To make matters worse, poor countries lose ten dollars out of every dollar in financial aid received:

www.gfintegrity.org...

reply to post by jude11


It's probably better than wasting that money on people WHO ACTUALLY LIVE HERE!

I guess all that money is tied up into our legislative division. They collude to make themselves richer because they have education and seemingly good life choices at their backs. WE should be happy and proud for our decision makers.

Just another reason why the world would stop turning without us intervention.

Maybe goes to show that it's not worth investing in your own people. It's better to be the shylock bastard to everyone else in order to control them. Both of which are not seeming to work. Makes sense(cents) in a perverse sort of way.

reply to post by jude11


It makes me sick. Here the U.S. is sinking and it's giving aid to others when that money is desperately needed. Think about all the good that could have done in the United States. It could have helped the poor and homeless. It could have helped fix decaying schools and made sure children had proper text books and received lunch.

I'm all for helping, but there comes a point in time when you have to address the issues at home before addressing issues abroad. It's like the sinking of the Titanic. Do you think it would have ended up well if the RMS Carpathia came to their aid while taking on water themselves?

Pffft, Mexicans. I cant believe they have the gall to "come here." What leeches!

Tejanos- We're not leaving our lands folks, and you're not "giving" us much of anything actually. Go check your facts (past and present) a little more. Btw, The US actually took, and now demands we pay YOU....rofl, I'll never understand that one.

..as for the foreign aid, /shrug I agree. It makes up 1% supposedly. If you can use it here in the states for people who need it, do so.

reply to post by jude11


Now this is a perfect example of social engineering at work. I see this figure and immediately think "Meh what are billions when the deficit is in multi trillions?"

Of course thats faulty thinking but thats honestly what came to mind.

Enjoy that Ham or ham sandwich this year.

reply to post by neo96


Press your representative to legalize these hard working residents, we already have them by sales taxes (unless you're in Oregon) it's time to have them accountable for all other taxes and move on from the issue entirely.

What a number! We need to cut food stamps and social security and Medicare to pay for that. Don't forget oil subsidies we need money for that too.

reply to post by jude11


Well..if you consider US foreign policy is currently #1 cause of the NEED for aid....then the sum is paltry, a grain of sand, not on a beach, in a self created desert of need.

In all honesty, it's only $273.19 per American taxpayer per year, and that's not including businesses that pay taxes.

FYI, only about 45% of the American population pay taxes. For example; In 2012, of the 308,000,000 people in the USA, only 138,000,000 of them paid taxes.

That being said, I think that defense budget should be drastically cut, our troops brought stateside, and some of them redeployed to Mexico. Considering the chart and the data above, defense costs us as a nation about $703,000,000,000/year. Now that figure, per taxpayer, is a bit more daunting: $5,094.20

Heck, I just want to see these numbers:
Foreign Aid: $37B
Transportation: $111B
Veterans: $111B
Education and Training: $148B
Other (Pens, Pencils, Obama's vacations, Hillary's BS, etc.): $222B
Net Interest: $222B
Health: $370B
Medicare: $481B
Income Security: $555B
Defense: $703B
Social Security: $740B
Total Budget: $3.7T
Total Spending by 2013 Obama Administration: $3.5T

From what I see here...it's not necessarily lack of ability within the government to control spending, but apparent loop-holes allowing corporations to operate within the USA without tax liability. In all honesty, I bet the US government could get rid of taxation of people and thrive on the fact that this is the largest and fastest (continually) growing free-market consumer economy in the world, and simply tax all corporations that function the USA who are wanting to sell to us; not just through tariffs, but plain-jane-taxable-revenue.

BlubberyConspiracy
reply to post by neo96

 

Press your representative to legalize these hard working residents, we already have them by sales taxes (unless you're in Oregon) it's time to have them accountable for all other taxes and move on from the issue entirely.

(Pushing off sub a little here but)
Heh, you know the funny thing ..I've heard actually, there are alternatives to funding shortfalls.
I mean seriously, not everything has to be a cut. It can literally be a shifted tax based on spending behaviors. You guys want these immigrants to pay more, then you tax what they spend more on. If that for example is sending money out of the country then you tax THAT.

More examples-
If you want to get rid of the property tax then you up sales and use by 2.5 cents and bamm, you can offset PLUS you get voter appreciation due to home security.
If government spends too much on something then the people should tax THAT. For every dollar spent overseas, or that leaves the country, 2 or more MUST be spent domestically and it must be within the working BUDGET that you lock. That's a behavior check and that money goes to infrastructure.
If you have a problem with traffic fatalities then you work on the roads (which I wont get into) but it has nothing to do with literally filming a fatality as some sickos seem to think that saves lives. *Looks at cameras all over the roads in the US*.
If someone is consuming something illegal but harmless, and its causing overcrowded prisons, and costs billions annually then you legalize then regulate, and you tax THAT something.

But you know, the US can keep doing the trashy crap its been doing. No one listens or cares anyway. *Takes a bite of a ham sammich* I'll be here. Watching. Waiting and Facepalming. Embarrassed. dissapointed with a deep sense of pity at this self destructive behavior.

What can you do but watch the decline?

Nephalim
You guys want these immigrants to pay more, then you tax what they spend more on. If that for example is sending money out of the country then you tax THAT.

This right here. I live in New York. Immigrants (both legal and non-legal) are a large part of our state, culture and all it would be much less without them. I love my country, I love my state. I speak English, I was born here, my parents were naturalized before coming here I'm a First Generation American. So even though my skin isn't pale and my features aren't common, I'm American bred. And nothing can change that.

As much as there's nothing wrong with sending overseas for friends and family, extraction is often touchy subject IMO and does affect the nation I think it can be looked at as foreign aid if you're willing to go far enough to call it that. Although you have every right to by the ownership of your funds funds and/ or goods to do what you will with them, anything leaving the country should be taxed and go toward things like Department of Labor funding and the subsidizing of secondary education for US CITIZENS. All things that improve the situation HERE at HOME.

If anyone wants to send expensive goods out overseas, it should have to be U.S. made. It needs to be encouraged (but not entirely prevented) to make it that U.S. jobs aren't mostly occupied by people with foreign interests and made so that any cake that leaves this factory at least has a piece come back come. However, this change though won't end corruption in our nation or even help the deficit by much at all. Now I wonder, does sending overseas for extended family technically count as foreign aid?

We as a nation need to stop taking care of everywhere else until it can take care of its citizens. Even so, although Representatives, Company CEOs in presidential cabinets and all may be Americans their interests are foreign too

To recap, the amount spent is very small compared to what is spent on bailouts. In fact, the total amount spent in financial aid for one year is only one-third of what is spent in quantitative easing each month (around $85 billion).

Most of the bailouts go to the rich (the top 1 or 5 pct of the country's population), who in various cases receive them zero interest with no obligation to pay back. That's why five years after the financial crisis the rich have not only recovered what they lost they are also now richer than ever.

Finally, for every dollar received in financial aid, poor countries lose 10 due to outflows. This has been going on for decades.