Misguided Foreign Aid

Exchange of e-mails with Sen. Hutchison:

You responded to my earlier e-mail by saying,

"Thank you for contacting me regarding the budget for foreign operations. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue."

"The United States has a long history of extending a helping hand to those people overseas struggling to make a better life, to recover from a disaster, or to live in a free and democratic country. It is this caring that stands as a hallmark of the United States around the world."

"The annual State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill is the primary legislative vehicle through which Congress funds U.S. international affairs operations. This is a critical bill because by providing funds for our State Department and foreign operations, we have an opportunity to help shape the world's perception of our nation."

"As Congress considers future funding, my support for any foreign aid component will continue to be predicated on its relevance to national security and other important U.S. interests."

"I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you."

Caring and helping are fine, but pumping someone else's money down a rat hole is obscene, irresponsible, and immoral.

We have a human responsibility to help those who are trying to help themselves and to do so in such a manner as to be effective. 70 years of Foreign Aid have been ineffective, and it's long past time to reevaluate our strategy.

In these times of tremendous self-imposed debt, such as you and your fellow Senators are working on with respect to health care and global warming, there is little justification that we help others, when we can't help ourselves. This is what I call an abuse of compassion. It means helping others to the extent that one is unable to care for one's own self. Under those conditions everything goes down the drain.

Sec. Chu is going to give the people in Africa sun powered lamps. How ridiculous can one get?