The Conservative Case for Foreign Aid The Conservative Case for Foreign Aid

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204653604577247192502863590.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Cutting foreign aid has always been a guaranteed applause line on the political stump. There are no global Grover Norquists pushing a pledge not to slash the State Department budget, nor are there millions of AARP seniors rallying to protect America's investments overseas. President Reagan once summed it up succinctly: "Foreign aid suffers from a lack of domestic constituency, in large part because the results of the programs are often not immediately visible and self-evident." And today, with the national debt approaching $14.7 trillion, Americans rightly demand fiscal responsibility.

Yet efforts in Congress to cut billions from the president's proposed budget for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are short-sighted. While it is true that our economic strength at home determines our strength in the world, it's also vital to deal with our current fiscal challenge intelligently. After all, we can't be strong at home if we aren't strong in the world.

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President Obama's new request for international-affairs work comprises a mere 1.5% of his budget. Is there a cost to taxpayers? Of course. But all of our foreign aid programs and foreign policy initiatives—from sending diplomats to Afghanistan to helping reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa—cost less than one-tenth of our annual military expenditures.
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At this time of budget crisis, a U.S. senator trying to defend foreign aid might well be advised to seek the counsel of a political consultant if not a mental health professional. But energetic global leadership is a strategic imperative for America, not a favor we do for other countries.