Ted Poe: “Finally Congress says it will rein in out-of-control spending. My neighbors in Texas are a little cynical and say…”

“Finally Congress says it will rein in out-of-control spending. My neighbors in Texas are a little cynical and say, ``Prove it.'' One suggestion I keep hearing is regarding foreign aid. My friend, Sammy Mahan, a towing service operator, told me to quit giving money to dictators. Well, there's a thought. There are 192 countries, and the United States gives money to roughly 150 of them. With our economic times, 15 million unemployed and the debt monster looming over us, it's time we reevaluate the citizen money we give away. Someone has said that ``foreign aid is taking money from the poor people in rich nations and giving it to rich people in poor nations''. And many of these receivers of taxpayer money don't even like us. As my friend, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Louie Gohmert says, ``We don't need to pay them to hate us. They'll do it on their own.'' We even give money away to China. We should reevaluate the money we give each nation. I suspect Israel and maybe a few others would and should receive U.S. help, but the rest need to go it on their own. After all, we should take care of America first. And that's just the way it is.”