An Open Letter to Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr.:
February 15, 2008
Honorable Congressman Virgil H. Goode Jr.,
Sir, it has come to my attention that Senator Obama is proposing a massive foreign aid subsidy program, a veritable Great Society run riot on an international level. Supposedly, he wants to pledge $845 billion over several years, (or 0.7% of gross national product per annum.) I am disturbed by such measure, particularly given the size of budget deficits at home, the deterioration of the U.S. Dollar, and what appears to be the beginning of exorbitant inflation. Years of fiscal mismanagement by the Congress seem to only be met with more reckless mismanagement. I find it disturbing that amidst what appears to be the beginning of American economic decline that our political leadership sees fit to waste our tax dollars. Our infrastructure at home is falling apart, as evident by that bridge collapse in Minnesota. There are better uses of tax dollars than foreign aid.
I realize there are voices of sanity and statesmanship in the Congress like yourself, and other members of the Liberty Committee like Ron Paul. I hope you will speak to this matter, and oppose it.
One of your predecessors Dan Daniel was compelled to challenge U.S. government attempts to aid regimes that practiced socialism, whether the Marxist variety or not, "because it encouraged them to remain victims of their own economic systems." Such logic is lost to today's politicians, and foreign aid has crippled the Third World, by propping up corrupt socialist kleptocracies. "There's no escaping the truth," proclaimed Daniel, "that the $60,000,000,000 in economic aid which we have given away since World War II has seriously jeopardized our economy." I fundamentally believe there is truth to that proverb God helps those that helps themselves. I think that private charities like Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing among many others, are more efficient and honestly administered than American-subsidized programs under the auspices of the United Nations. I am against foreign aid too, because of its perceived unconstitutionality. Where's the authority in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution?
A July 4, 2005 interview with a Kenyan economist in the German newspaper Spiegel offered some hard-hitting truth that the world needs to hear about Africa. Socialism in Africa, reinforced by naive Western powers and the United Nations, is at the root of Africa's problems. It held true in the 1970s. And it holds true in the twenty-first century. Intervention via foreign aid inculcates weakness in their government, saps market vitality, and props up despots and dictators. In 2005, the Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati says that foreign aid to Africa does more harm than good, declaring, "For God's sake, please just stop." He elaborated, "Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor." Spiegel then queried, "Do you have an explanation for this paradox?" Shikwati retorted, "Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid." Spiegel then queried, "Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving to death each year. Someone has got to help them." Shikwati declared, "But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help... It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help... before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa ...and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unscrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle."
I have become cognizant of the reality that many corrupt special interests in the banking industry, and international bankers have a vested interest in seeing large sums of loans directed at corrupt Third World regimes, and they play the familiar game of lobbying the Congress to bail them out under the auspices of debt relief. This encourages a vicious cycle of fiscal irresponsibility in the United States, and subsidizes corruption, poverty and failure abroad.
Best Regards,
Ryan Setliff
Click image below to download the response from Rep. Goode on Feb. 15, 2008.
Honorable Congressman Virgil H. Goode Jr.,
Sir, it has come to my attention that Senator Obama is proposing a massive foreign aid subsidy program, a veritable Great Society run riot on an international level. Supposedly, he wants to pledge $845 billion over several years, (or 0.7% of gross national product per annum.) I am disturbed by such measure, particularly given the size of budget deficits at home, the deterioration of the U.S. Dollar, and what appears to be the beginning of exorbitant inflation. Years of fiscal mismanagement by the Congress seem to only be met with more reckless mismanagement. I find it disturbing that amidst what appears to be the beginning of American economic decline that our political leadership sees fit to waste our tax dollars. Our infrastructure at home is falling apart, as evident by that bridge collapse in Minnesota. There are better uses of tax dollars than foreign aid.
I realize there are voices of sanity and statesmanship in the Congress like yourself, and other members of the Liberty Committee like Ron Paul. I hope you will speak to this matter, and oppose it.
One of your predecessors Dan Daniel was compelled to challenge U.S. government attempts to aid regimes that practiced socialism, whether the Marxist variety or not, "because it encouraged them to remain victims of their own economic systems." Such logic is lost to today's politicians, and foreign aid has crippled the Third World, by propping up corrupt socialist kleptocracies. "There's no escaping the truth," proclaimed Daniel, "that the $60,000,000,000 in economic aid which we have given away since World War II has seriously jeopardized our economy." I fundamentally believe there is truth to that proverb God helps those that helps themselves. I think that private charities like Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing among many others, are more efficient and honestly administered than American-subsidized programs under the auspices of the United Nations. I am against foreign aid too, because of its perceived unconstitutionality. Where's the authority in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution?
A July 4, 2005 interview with a Kenyan economist in the German newspaper Spiegel offered some hard-hitting truth that the world needs to hear about Africa. Socialism in Africa, reinforced by naive Western powers and the United Nations, is at the root of Africa's problems. It held true in the 1970s. And it holds true in the twenty-first century. Intervention via foreign aid inculcates weakness in their government, saps market vitality, and props up despots and dictators. In 2005, the Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati says that foreign aid to Africa does more harm than good, declaring, "For God's sake, please just stop." He elaborated, "Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor." Spiegel then queried, "Do you have an explanation for this paradox?" Shikwati retorted, "Huge bureaucracies are financed (with the aid money), corruption and complacency are promoted, Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent. In addition, development aid weakens the local markets everywhere and dampens the spirit of entrepreneurship that we so desperately need. As absurd as it may sound: Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid." Spiegel then queried, "Even in a country like Kenya, people are starving to death each year. Someone has got to help them." Shikwati declared, "But it has to be the Kenyans themselves who help these people. When there's a drought in a region of Kenya, our corrupt politicians reflexively cry out for more help... It's only natural that they willingly accept the plea for more help... before long, several thousands tons of corn are shipped to Africa ...and at some point, this corn ends up in the harbor of Mombasa. A portion of the corn often goes directly into the hands of unscrupulous politicians who then pass it on to their own tribe to boost their next election campaign. Another portion of the shipment ends up on the black market where the corn is dumped at extremely low prices. Local farmers may as well put down their hoes right away; no one can compete with the UN's World Food Program. And because the farmers go under in the face of this pressure, Kenya would have no reserves to draw on if there actually were a famine next year. It's a simple but fatal cycle."
I have become cognizant of the reality that many corrupt special interests in the banking industry, and international bankers have a vested interest in seeing large sums of loans directed at corrupt Third World regimes, and they play the familiar game of lobbying the Congress to bail them out under the auspices of debt relief. This encourages a vicious cycle of fiscal irresponsibility in the United States, and subsidizes corruption, poverty and failure abroad.
Best Regards,
Ryan Setliff
Click image below to download the response from Rep. Goode on Feb. 15, 2008.
