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this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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Well, we do already fund a ton of foreign aid all over the world, so quite a lot of that is already happening. But to address those particular things: homelessness is not a problem where simply throwing money at it magically solves it; it's incredibly complex. New York City alone spends 3.5 billion dollars a year just on homelessness. The only financial solution to gun violence is to bribe the SCOTUS to repeal DC v. Heller. Drug policy is largely in the hands of the states, but even then, there's no simple solution to it, particularly when you have to deal with local politics for things like treatment facilities. Prisons are largely state operated. Personal debt is largely outside the scope of the federal government, but even then, student loan forgiveness was attempted. But to throw a number at it, redirecting all Ukraine aid towards individual credit card debt would pay for only 10% of it.
Are there particular federal programs of comparable financial impact with sufficient political support that you think would pay significant returns if boosted by foreign aid money (ignoring the general decline in global stability that would ensue).
I mean, the economic dividends there are obvious. If it really was as simple as throwing some money at Central and South America in order to make the cartels vanish forever and turn those countries into stable countries that we could do significant trade with, we'd earn far more than we paid. But that price tag doesn't actually exist, because these problems are more complicated than simply throwing money at them.
I didn't make my point clear in the previous post so I'll state my stance. I don't really care to send money to Ukraine so they can fight their war. I think maybe a good percentage of Americans would feel the same (mostly republicans). I don't have the same reasons as they have however. When I indicated the money is better spent here I was referring to lowering my taxes. I know that the money to Ukraine won't even lower my taxes by 0.01% and the real money sink is military and social security but the optics don't look good in my eyes.
Take the perspective of the other side. "I'm paying all this money in taxes, my roads are bad, crime from the drugs are around my corner, my job ain't covering all my expenses like it used to. And those people in Washington are giving money to the Europeans so they can fight a war!"
They could stop funding Ukraine and have Ukraine somehow pay back everything today and none of those issues would be fixed. Road maintenance and local crime are state/county responsibilities so they're not impacted by the Ukraine war or funding at all. Your job wages, unless tied to the defense industry, aren't going to be tied to this war at all and if they were, you most likely wouldn't be complaining about your expenses. Another side of the expenses argument would be inflation, but that's not impacted by the Ukraine war either.
You didn't get my point in that post. I have issues in my life and around my city that I'm concerned with. I listed some of those issues in the previous post. Nowhere in there is Ukraine. Yet instead of addressing the issues I face or, more importantly, the average American faces the government is sending money to Ukraine. Taxpayer's money, our money. If I could choose where my tax dollars went (federal, state, and local) none of it would go to Ukraine. A good portion of Americans would do the same.
The user who replied to one of my comments said that throwing money at some of these issues won't solve it. Throwing billions at some of those issues and funding well run projects will absolutely make a difference. They said that most of the problems I talk about are local and state as if federal spending cannot be diverted to the local and state. Haven't we been complaining for years about how underpaid our educators are? Aren't they important. The billions given to Ukraine could have been given to them and I would 100% support that.
You also said that some of my examples, road maintenance and local crime, are state/county responsibilities. You don't think that those topics are subject to federal funding? The feds aid in fighting crime at all levels, not just federal level. The feds give money to states and cities all the time to fund infrastructure. One of the policies that Biden ran on was IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE. Did you think he meant only federal roads and bridges?
So yeah the money we give away in federal aid (not just Ukraine) can be used here for the benefit of the people who are taxed to generate that revenue.