Foreign aid doesn’t have a constituency, and is often first on the chopping block, a maxim that is no different in the Tea Party Congress. In their haste to slash every penny of government spending (save the tough bits, of course), they have again failed to appreciate why foreign aid exists in the first place.
Unveiled last week was a Republican proposal to slash everything under the sun when it comes to aid: 84 percent of the USAID budget, the U.S. Trade Development Agency, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the USDA Sugar Program, economic assistance to Egypt, and many other programs.
To be sure, America needs a serious discussion about foreign aid reform. But we shouldn’t be questioning its very existence.
That’s why much credit is due to Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), ranking member (and former Chairman) of the House International Relations Committee, who rises to stand in the path of neo-isolationism:
We all remember the period when the United States tried to go it alone, unwilling to cooperate with other countries and demonstrate global leadership,” We’ve finally begun to turn that all around. Let’s not go back to the bad old days when the U.S. turned away from the rest of the world, and lost so much of its influence and respect.”
This is nothing short of casting the ideological die. On one side is the principle of standing for an America whose security is enhanced and values forwarded by being engaged as an active world leader. On the other side is an America that shirks from its vast and critical international responsibilities because most conservatives lack the gumption to have a tough discussion on revenues and spending.
Let’s talk about reforming aid and protecting America’s interests and values, not about taking our ball and going home.
