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Title: Time To End Foreign Aid To Israel: ‘We Just Can’t Do It Anymore,’ Sen. Paul Warns
Source:
RawStory
URL Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/ ... ael-we-anymore-sen-paul-warns/
Published: Jan 27, 2011
Author: Stephen C. Webster
Post Date: 2011-01-27 12:47:06 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 2961
Comments: 8
Israel has been, by far, the largest recipient of US foreign aid anywhere in the world. Since the inception of Israel's close diplomatic relationship with the US all the way through 2008, Americans gave Israel over $103 billion, according to the American Educational Trust. President Barack Obama in late 2009 approved an additional $2.77 billion for Israeli foreign aid in 2010, and another $30 billion over the next decade. That's got to stop, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who told CNN host Wolf Blitzer recently that with such a crushing economic picture in the US, "we just can't do it anymore." "What I'm concerned about," Paul said, is that "if we do nothing -- if we coast along as we've been coasting -- entitlements and interest will consume the whole debt within a decade; will consume the whole budget. There will be nothing left for anything else. My fear is we could have a precipitous calamity where nobody gets any checks from government, so security fails, Medicare fails, unless we start making the difficult decisions now. "I'm gonna propose a solution before we have a calamity," he said. In a recent proposal by Paul, a total of $500 billion would be slashed from the budget within a year, undercutting food stamps, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and other programs that many hold dear. It would also take five percent from the defense budget, chopping $16 billion out of funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently announced two significant budget cuts at the Defense Department, starting with a $78 billion cut in spending over the next five years. The figure nearly topped the first-year maximum cuts proposed by House Republicans during the 2010 mid-term elections. But even that was a mere "pin-prick" to a behemoth military-industrial complex that must drastically shrink for the good of the republic, a former Reagan administration budget director recently told Raw Story. "It amounts to a failed opportunity to recognize that we are now at a historical inflection point at which the time has arrived for a classic post-war demobilization of the entire military establishment," David Stockman said in an exclusive interview. He warned that without massive cuts to the defense budget, reducing elective spending a bit here and a bit there would be "too little, too late." Short of that, he suggested, the United States had "reached the point of no return" with its artificial creation of wealth, and would eventually face a sharp economic decline. Sen. Paul has been a leading conservative advocate of defense cuts, but his position was largely unsupported by fellow Republicans. A Democrat-created commission dedicated to studying defense cuts recommended last year that up to $1 trillion be removed from the military's budget. Recommendations from the Sustainable Defense Task Force, formed by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and supported by Sen. Paul's father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), were seen as largely unworkable, with Republicans standing nearly in unanimous opposition to cutting America's defense budget. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), the highest ranking Jewish member of Congress, played down any talk of cutting foreign aid payments to Israel. "I've always said that any aid to foreign countries should pass the test of whether it helps support the security of the United States," he recently told AFP. Cantor added that it was "very clear" Israel was waging "the same war against radical Islam that we are in," and therefore passed his test. Cantor came under heavy criticism in November when, as House Minority Whip, he reached out to Israel's prime minister and promised that Republicans would "serve as a check on the [Obama] administration" when talks turned to Israeli policy. When former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) traveled to Syria in 2007, Cantor suggested she'd committed a felony by violating the Logan Act, which prohibits conducting unauthorized diplomacy with a foreign country. This video is from CNN, broadcast Jan. 26, 2010.
One of the Senate's newest members has settled upon an idea to reduce American debt that's likely to come off as highly controversial in the halls of power: ending all foreign aid, including the tens of billions dedicated to Israel.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Rand Paul is correct. We need to lower our debt and look our for our own nations interests first.
He is correct, but we need bigger cuts than foreign aid and earmarks. All earmarks combined are less than 2% of federal spending and all foreign aid combined is less than 1 % of federal spending. There's just no way around, that I can see, cutting entitlements and military spending....drastically. But foreign aid would be a good starting point.
They need to cut everything across the board a min of 10 percent or preferably 20 to 30 percent. Everything. They are destroying my childrens future.
The problem with Paul's approach is that it would send the economy into a tailspin, reducing tax revenues to the point where we would have less spending, but the same level of deficit. Have a look at what is going on in the U.K. right now as an example, and the U.S. in 1937.
Since January 3, 2011, Republicans have controlled the power of the purse.
Grrr.... Paul wants to end all foreign aide to all foreign countries. What is the report? He wants to cut off Israel. This is why I HATE the propagandistic American press.
Hey, buddy, I don't mean to rain on your parade... But our economy IS ALREADY IN A TAILSPIN!!! And it's there, because of your beloved nanny-state government and the corrupt Fed! Put the bong down, and step back slowly...
"There will be no more money when the U.S. dollar has no value, until that time we can keep printing more." -- go65, LF's answer to Ben Bernanke --
Paul is proposing an immediate cut of $500 billion annually. His proposal cuts or eliminates a lot of sacred cows. It won't balance the budget, which is going run up another $1.5 trillion debt this year. He doesn't touch entitlements in the current proposal. He doesn't do enough on the military. That's where the rest of the cuts have to come from. We don't need to cut $1.5 trillion. We probably need to cut 50% to 75% of that amount so long as we do the right long-term structural cuts that let's us grow into the current government footprint.
One of the Senate's newest members has settled upon an idea to reduce American debt that's likely to come off as highly controversial in the halls of power: ending all foreign aid, including the tens of billions dedicated to Israel. He is 100% right about cutting off all foreign aid to Israel. She is a sovereign socialist nation that provides us with absolutely nothing in return other than demanding we do more. The only nations we should be giving foreign aid money to are those struggling nations that have natural resources we need and have difficulty finding in other places,or something else to offer us that benefits America. In other words,we need to be getting something for our money,or we need to be keeping our money. "What I'm concerned about," Paul said, is that "if we do nothing -- if we coast along as we've been coasting -- entitlements and interest will consume the whole debt within a decade; will consume the whole budget. There will be nothing left for anything else. There is no "if" involved in this. Since we don't even have a manufacturing base anymore thanks to the greed and the treason of our elected officials,the Golden Goose is dying. All these people are soon going to have to learn to live without US taxpayers dollars subsidizing their socialist systems anyway,so why not let them start learning now? In a recent proposal by Paul, a total of $500 billion would be slashed from the budget within a year, undercutting food stamps, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and other programs that many hold dear. The NEA may be politically doable,but good luck cutting back on Food Stamps or the CPSD. I just don't see either happening. In fact,I see the Food Stamps program increasing as more and more people find themselves out of work and their retirement funds offshored. Come to think of it,the CPSD may well become obsolete in just a few years because they have no control over Chinese manufacturing to start with. It would also take five percent from the defense budget, chopping $16 billion out of funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am totally unqualified to judge the true amount that can and should be saved here,but that number seems low to me. Maybe it's a good starting point? A foot in the door to position ourselves for further cuts? House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), the highest ranking Jewish member of Congress, played down any talk of cutting foreign aid payments to Israel. Gee,THERE's a shocker! "I've always said that any aid to foreign countries should pass the test of whether it helps support the security of the United States," he recently told AFP. ROFLMAO! Good one! Care to explain to us how supporting the socialist state of Israel so they can afford to be socialist helps the US in ANY respect? Cantor added that it was "very clear" Israel was waging "the same war against radical Islam that we are in," and therefore passed his test. LOL! The hits just keep coming,don't they? HEY! NUMBNUTS! The only reason we are fighting this war is because of our ties to Israel. And of course to keep defense related corporations in states ran by Dim politicians rolling along putting out war materials and providing jobs for Dim union voters.
"I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago." (Sarah Palin,Dec 2009) ************************************ DID Palin say or write these things or not? (Me) I don't know or F ing care. (Mad Dog posted on 2009-12-26 16:36:33 ET,post # 105 http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=5510&Disp=114#C114)
#2. To: A K A Stone (#1)
#3. To: We The People (#2)
#4. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Rand Paul is correct. We need to lower our debt and look our for our own nations interests first.
#5. To: Brian S (#0)
(Edited)
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#6. To: go65 (#4)
it would send the economy into a tailspin
#7. To: We The People (#2)
(Edited)
but we need bigger cuts than foreign aid and earmarks.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill
#8. To: Brian S (#0)
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