Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George w. Bush, spoke on the topic of foreign aid in the Old Capitol Museum in Iowa City. Gerson stated that to cut American foreign aid would be a uniformed and misguided action.

Gerson criticized Senator Rand Paul’s recent statements about seriously cutting American foreign aid. Gerson reminded the attendees that foreign aid is not the main reason that we are in such national debt; in fact, it is one of the smallest programs into which federal dollars are sent. He also spoke about the sequester and why cutting aid should be out of the question. The speaker claimed that “even cuts don’t cut evenly.”

A cut to foreign aid spending would, in effect, take away from programs that save lives and improve the quality of life for many people living in poverty around the world while a cut to military spending of highway maintenance may be hurtful but they would not affect people’s ability to survive like lost aid dollars might. It is important that political figures, Democrats and Republicans, speak up and ask that the federal government does not cut funding for our foreign aid programs.

Being politically active isn’t just for well-known political figures, it is for all of us. Find and contact your representatives.

– Kevin Sullivan

Source: Press Citizen
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