Romney takes aim at foreign aid

By: American Decency Staff

Seeking to bring his business acumen to international relations, Mitt Romney on Tuesday called for an overhaul of foreign assistance programs, saying the U.S. should tie its aid with demands that other countries open up to trade and investment.

Speaking to the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, ahead of President Obama’s own addresses here and at the U.N. later Tuesday, Mr. Romney also took several veiled shots at his opponent, pointedly saying he “will never apologize for America” and the role the U.S. has played in the world.

And Mr. Romney, Republicans‘ presidential nominee, said in the weeks before the election he’ll lay out a broader vision for an international strategy.

On foreign aid, he said American assistance has spent too much on social services in other countries, which provide only a temporary boost. He said if he wins the White House American foreign aid will be coupled with trade and investment, which he said will have a more fundamental effect on countries’ prospects.

“The aim of a much larger share of our aid must be the promotion of work and the fostering of free enterprise,” he said. “Nothing we can do as a nation will change lives and nations more effectively and permanently than sharing the insight that lies at the foundation of America’s own economy — free people pursuing happiness in their own ways build a strong and prosperous nation.”

The U.S., while less than 5 percent of the world’s population, accounts for a quarter of all foreign aid, which totals $130 billion. In the past, that aid was a major source of money flowing to many developing countries.

But Mr. Romney said trade with the developing world totals more than $8 trillion and direct investment is $663 billion, which both dwarf foreign aid itself. He said those should be harnessed as part of America’s strategy.

He proposed new “Prosperity Pacts” he said would integrate all three. Pacts would would identify barriers to trade, and investment and home-grown entrepreneurialism in developing countries.

If those countries work to remove those blocks, Mr. Romney said they would receive U.S. assistance to bolster property rights and the rule of law.

Foreign assistance is a thorny issue for the U.S. Polls show voters across the board want that funding cut or eliminated, though Americans also dramatically overestimate how much the government spends on foreign aid.

Recently, some in Congress have targeted aid to countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, where tensions with the U.S. have grown.

Mr. Romney, who made his personal fortune through a venture capital firm, said many Americans are struck by the lack of progress from direct foreign aid.

“We see stories of cases where American aid has been diverted to corrupt governments,” he said. “We wonder why years of aid and relief seem never to extinguish the hardship, why the suffering persists decade after decade.”

Mr. Romney also said there’s been much progress in microfinance — the strategy of small loans so farmers and others looking to create a small business can get going. But Mr. Romney said while that has helped alleviate poverty, it can’t boost the kinds of small- and medium-sized enterprises that need bolstering.

He said that’s where bolstering economic institutions comes in.

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