Is it the responsibility of USA citizens to support poor people of the world through taxes taken out of our?

Question

paychecks every week? Don't WE have the RIGHT to demand this abuse stop?

queen of..- I have no problem with my taxes helping citizens of my country, funding welfare for THEM, food stamps for THEM, medical care for THEM and even for an allotted controlled amount foreign aid. I don't feel like the citizens of my country should foot the bill for people in our country who are illegal and using those funds. Those funds are for USA legal citizens, if and when THEY need them, NOT illegal criminal invaders.

Joey12074 - They just walk into any AFDC office and say in broken English that they are illegal immigrants and they get everything. Some of them use fake, forged, stolen or even 'rented' ID's. Here is a study done in 2002, the problem is worse now:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

YOUR taxes paid for this and still are paying and paying and paying..........

Answer 1

No it is not our responsibility but the Govt. seems to think we need to bail out/help every country in the world.... then the people we help bash us... go figure... If I remember correctly I heard that taxes were suppose to be a temporary thing and the IRS isn't even part of the US government

Answer 2

When developed countries' trade policies control world market prices and make it difficult for developing countries to emerge out of poverty, then yes, it is definitely the responsibility of developed countries to assist developing countries. And honestly, in terms of a % of GNP, US foreign aid has almost always been lower than any other industrialized nation in the world (even though the total dollar amount has been the highest since 2000 - the prior eight years Japan gave more total aid then the US). Only since 2004 have they move up from last place, by one.

This is particularly TRUE if you want to stop the pull of illegal migration into the US. As long as there is mass poverty and high unemployment in the developing world, the existence of MANY employers in the US willing to hire illegals and a government that is unwilling to enforce labor laws, then illegals will continue to come.

Answer 3

Meh. People blame the US for all the world's problems, but to be frank, we're only a tiny part of the mess. We didn't colonize Africa. We didn't colonize Asia. Europe did that... and they often left behind basket cases in their wake. We didn't start Vietnam... The French did. We didn't start Korea. The Chinese and Russians did. We didn't start Afghanistan. The Russians and Extremists did.

It is NOT our responsibility to fix all the world's ailments. We can try to help, but punishing the sucessful by taxing them to death simply because they've done well is no more fair than punishing the poor just because they are poor.

And I'll be honest. Foreign aid really has just created a new type of colonialism. He who controls the purse strings, calls the shots. Some third world countries that have been forced to take billions in loans, now have no sovreignity left as the World Bank and international powers push them around because of their debts. I've lived in Africa. I've seen it.

That doesn't even begin to adress cultural and regional societal trends that have absolutely nothing to do with us.

It's sad really.

The mess of poverty and economic malaise goes far beyond "the US is Evil" silliness to world economics, political power plays and even cultural thought.

So, it's not our responsibility. But that doesn't say we don't have to help... and guess what, we have. Remember the Tsunami? Common individial Americans, by their own free will, gave more to help those hit than any other country in the world.

People tend to forget things like that when they paint us as the great big fat target of the world.

Answer 4

The USA alone has the power to stop poverty with its billions of dollars wasted every year, not only wasted on building and developing weaponry but the tons of food that are wasted. The people of the USA have a pretty good wicket (as the saying goes) and is the measly percentage that is being taken from your wages really so bad as to be called an abuse? In Australia tax is taken from our wages to pay for people who are receiving welfare because they have either done something stupid or are too lazy to go out and get a job. People in third world countries are not victims of themselves but the society they live in and America has the means to help them so why not do it?

Answer 5

Of course it is not our responsibility. It is however forced benevolence. The really sad part is a very small portion of the so called help, Helps. That applies to the so called beneficiaries. Who is does help are the various contractors who supply the goods or services. In turn that helps the politicians get elected via. contributions over and sometimes under the table. Money talks. Scream your head off, if you wish nothing will change. Yes we do have the best government in the world. I think a good scrub down with Lava Soap would make it better.

Answer 6

Yes, it's part of our global responsibility to provide aid where it's needed.
Governments do it partly because it's the right thing to do and will add to global stability, and partly from knowing that as the receiving country develops it will look more favorably on previous donor countries when the good times roll and there are government contracts to be awarded. Sometimes we just lend people money on the understanding that they will spend it creating jobs here.
It's all part of being a global citizen.

Answer 7

No, and it should not be.

"queen of": You entirely missed the root cause of poverty. It is not solved by writing checks. Corrupt governments are most often to blame. Without making themselves attractive to outside investment, how can a country grow and prosper?

Most of the African continent provides a good example of why poverty (true poverty) exists and is not being eradicated quickly enough. There are very few truly destitute Americans. No one having cell phones, cable TV, or smoking cigarettes should be defined as poor in this country, but somehow they are. Amazing how the definition of poverty has morphed in the last 30 or so years.

Answer 8

I say NO... but I would like to say our tax money would possible be put to better use with a war against Mexico then Iraq. Go in, take out the corrupt leaders , and give the country to the people. We can have the country form into the republic it should be, and not on leach on the American economy.

Answer 9

We shouldnt have to foot the bill for all the illegal aliens, and we should have a right to say ok its time it stopped..It makes me sick that i payed out $2000 in tax's for the year 2005 and cant even get my road fixed..but i see all the mexicans standing in line for food stamps..

Answer 10

NO it is NOT our responsibility to support the poor of the world, and it IS our responsibility to protect our education and social services so they will be there for our own people.

And yes, we have the right. And I think we are doing that.

Bart S, I am not a Global Citizen. I am an American citizen. I'll let you know when and if that ever changes.