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Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!grkermit!masscomp!clyde!ihnp4!arizona!budd
From: budd@arizona.UUCP (tim budd)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: foreign policy thought
Message-ID: <5586@arizona.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Oct-83 18:39:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: arizona.5586
Posted: Fri Oct 21 18:39:24 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Oct-83 16:21:49 EDT
Organization: CS Dept, U of Arizona, Tucson
Lines: 20

I long ago stopped reading net.politics, but there has been some recent
discussion (?) of US foreign policy in this group, so i will throw in my
2 cents worth.

Far be it from me being a reagan supporter, but one area i think could
benefit from privitization is US foreign aid.  Consider the track record
of US government aid actually getting to the people we are supposed to
be helping, as against dropping into some high foreign mucky-muck government
officials pocket, and contrast this with the efforts of, say, the Red Cross
or the Cathloic church.  Also consider that such organizations are
oftentimes freer to work in places where overt US aid might not be encouraged,
such as in Poland.  So why not make it easier and more profitable for
us citizens to support such organizations, say by providing tax CREDITS
for some percentage of contributions.  (not deductions, they are already
there, for the most part, and don't seem to be sufficient).

Even if this is a good idea, there is almost no chance of this ever coming
to pass, since it would reduce the governments control and ability to use
foreign aid as a carrot or a stick.  Personally, I say less government
control, less bureaucracy, more aid gets through to the people.