A Rasmussen Reports poll released Wednesday says that more than half of voters think the United States government spends too much on foreign aid.
Majority of Americans believe the US spends too much money on foreign aid: Poll https://t.co/mB8yMYhNsp
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The survey asked, “In general, does the US government spend too much or not enough for foreign aid? Or is the amount of foreign aid spending about right?”
According to the survey, 57% of likely voters said they think the government spends too much on foreign aid, versus 10% that say that they aren’t spending enough. 23% of respondents said that the amount the government currently spends on foreign aid is about right.
The survey polled a bit over a thousand likely voters across the country, with a 3% margin of error.
Congress passed a $95 billion foreign aid package this week, with the fund split between Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The package was signed by the President on Wednesday.
$61 billion of the $95 billion package will be spent to help Ukraine find its defense against Russia.
More than $20 billion of the package is going to the U.S. military, to replace the weapons from our own stores given to Ukraine. Almost $14 billion will be used to buy more weapons for Ukraine, and nearly $8 billion worth of additional U.S. weapon stocks will be sent there.
47% of respondents in the Rasmussen survey said that the new package gave too much money to Ukraine, with 20% asserting that we should give more, and 24% feeling that the amount was about right.
$24 billion will be sent to the Middle East, both to support Israel and to fund humanitarian aid in Gaza. $4 billion will replenish the Iron Dome and David Sling missile defense systems, $1.2 billion will be used to buy the Iron Beam system, and $3.5 billion will fund weapons purchases for Israel.
49% of the survey’s pool said that funds sent to Israel were either not enough or about right, showing far more support from American voters for Israel than Ukraine.
Around $8 billion from the package will support Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific allies under threat from China.
Foreign aid is becoming increasingly unpopular among U.S. voters as politicians profit from wars that are beginning to get old while neglecting serious issues on the home front.
As the U.S. continually funds other countries’ distant wars without securing promises of peace deals, Americans face problems in their day-to-day lives that hit far closer to home.
While the government pays nearly $100 billion to protect other countries’ borders, our southern border goes unsecured.
Proponents of the government’s eagerness to spend tax dollars on foreign aid point out that the amount spent is negligible, making up less than 1% of the country’s budget.
Of course, if that amount was negligible to all of the nation’s leaders, we could have about three border walls put in for the price of this week’s aid package.
