New priorities




As our presidential nominees campaign, we listen to promise after promise of increased job opportunities and higher wages for all. But how do these promises turn into realities?

The answer lies within our ability to invest in developing nations. It may seem odd at first, to increase foreign aid in order to increase domestic jobs and wages, but the truth is we haven’t been spending very much at all.

On average, Americans estimate that 20 percent of the federal budget goes towards foreign aid, but in reality less than 1 percent goes toward assisting the world’s poor. On the other hand, an astounding 54 percent of the federal budget goes toward military spending.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed,” said Dwight Eisenhower.

We must instead invest more in the world’s poor. As people transition from barely surviving into becoming consumers, new markets open up for U.S. companies, creating American jobs. One out of five U.S. jobs is export-based and 50 percent of our exports now go to developing nations. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Noam Leead
Agoura Hills



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