Foreign Aid Research Paper

Foreign Aid Is Wasting Our Money!
How much of the United States federal budget goes to foreign aid? What's your best guess? 10 percent? 15 percent? 20 percent? If you're like most Americans, you probably guessed wrong. Less than 1 percent of the United States federal budget goes to foreign aid. Even though it may seem like a small amount, it really isn't. That less than 1 percent is really over $30 billion that we spend on foreign aid each and every year. That’s a lot of money! And there is still more to foreign aid than the foreign aid budget. There are over 20 U.S. Government agencies responsible for either executing or funding U.S. foreign assistance activities in over 100 countries. 56% of the Kaiser Family Foundation poll respondents thought that the United States spends too much money on foreign aid. Too much money is being given towards foreign aid that could be used towards scientific and technological advancements instead.
First, there is money for Overseas Contingency Operations, or finishing up projects the U.S. already started. The Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds, sometimes referred to as war
funds, are separate funds operated by the Department of Defense and the State Department, in addition to their base budgets. For example, the United States spent $2.1 billion on foreign aid in Afghanistan, even though only $700 million was allocated in the federal budget. In fact, Todd Harrison, a senior fellow for defense studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), found that the Pentagon was stashing an estimated extra $20 billion worth of non-war funding in the operation and maintenance accounts of its proposed 2014 budget. That’s way too much money and way too far out of budget! Second, there are emergency assistance operations. The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is responsible for leading and coordinating the U.S. government’s response to disasters overseas. For example, in 2015, conflict in South Sudan, Yemen, Ukraine, and Iraq left tens of millions in need of assistance while Syria entered the fifth year of a brutal civil war, while at the same time, OFDA led the U.S. government’s response efforts to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa followed by the Nepal earthquake. This is just too many things to handle at once and very costly for the U.S. government as well. Finally, private sectors often chip in to help build infrastructure, with their contributions separate from foreign aid. For instance, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with Coca-Cola to build juicing facilities in Haiti so the locals could turn their mangoes into a marketable product. A common misconception about foreign aid spending is this: “The United States only gives a tiny portion of its federal budget to foreign aid, I don’t see the big deal.” But when you find out how much a “tiny portion” or “less than 1 percent” really is, you won’t be saying that anymore.
So, how much of the United States federal budget do we really spend on foreign aid each year?
Clearly more than $30 billion when you add the OCO, OFDA, and USAID project funds. That’s a lot more money than we planned for! And these are just some of the departments that aren’t part of the foreign aid budget or are out of their budget. Too much money is being put towards foreign aid! Many polls have been conducted around the country with results being all the same: more than 50 percent of the people surveyed think the United States is spending too much money on foreign aid. I mean, think of all the scientific and technological advancements we could make with this sum of money. There’s still many breakthroughs out there waiting to be discovered. We might even be able to find a cure for cancer and save the lives of thousands! Wouldn’t you want to do
that?