Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Obama Defends US Foreign Aid In Twitter Town Hall Meeting




In the much anticipated Twitter Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, July 7, President Barack Obama defended US foreign aid saying that this tiny amount can have a big impact on US foreign policy. When Twitter users were calling for trimming overseas help, President Obama said, “It’s something that, even in tough fiscal times, American needs to continue to do as part of our role as a global leader,”

Various opinion polls have found that the US public estimates foreign aid to be 20% of overall discretionary spending whereas in reality this amount is only 2% (1% if narrowly defined) of annual budget.

The President also said, “America, to be a leader in the world, to have influence, to help stabilize countries and create opportunity for people so that they don’t breed terrorists or create huge refugee flows and so forth — it’s smart for us to make a very modest investment in foreign aid.”

My unsent Twit to the President: let the 2% (if not more) aid flow and make a difference in the world.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE