How do you feel about politicians approving aid to other countries while they are discussing pulling funds from our social programs

SSG Ike Phelan — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 10:58:32 -0400

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 14 at 2015 11:00 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 11:00:25 -0400

We have no money so we give it to anyone. too sad.

Response by SSG Ike Phelan made Mar 14 at 2015 11:02 AM

SSG Ike Phelan — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 11:02:53 -0400

I know our programs are often abused here in the United States but I also know they are abused overseas I talked to a contractor in AF that told me he bid on asnd wonn a contract to build a road for $165,000.00 which he then turned arounf and sold to someone else for $100,000.00 with in a matter of days by the time it was all said and done the contract was finnaly completed for the mere sum of $45,000.00 this is a real problem.

Response by SGT Jim Z. made Mar 14 at 2015 4:59 PM

SGT Jim Z. — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 16:59:33 -0400

I really am tired of the United States being the aid provided to the world. When will the world respond and provide us aid for our thousands struggling farmers, or provide aid when the next major catastrophe occurs? We need to start looking at us as a country. Yes there is some aid that we need to continue providing.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 14 at 2015 5:51 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 17:51:57 -0400

This is a "counter intuitive" subject.

First and foremost we must realize that our overall mission is Global Stability. Global Stability helps us. The more things are stable, the less we spend in the long run. Think "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"

Second, money doesn't have the same value here as it does in other places. Think about how cost of living varies in the US between places like NYC, LA, and DC to places like TX, etc. Now imagine an even bigger change where the cost of production is not 10% but two orders of magnitude (100x). As an example, when I was still a government supplier, the cost to produce textiles in the US was about $18.00/hr. The exact same item produced offshore was $0.18/hr.

So, imagine we are looking at some third world country, which if left to its own devices is going to cause us to have to "visit it." That visit will cost us $1B dollars. However, if we were to provide $1M (1/1000) worth of aid, it would be worth $100M to them.