Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
A fascinating thread started by Bill McGurn has focused on the proper role of the US government in dispensing foreign aid. Aside from yours truly, the balance of opinion seems to be decidedly against the distribution of aid to foreign countries by the government; the Constitution, after all, doesn't say it's OK.
But George Washington, a man who surely knew more about the Constitution than anyone living today, had this to say in his 1792 State of the Union, regarding dispatching "Indian agents" to liaise with nearby tribes:
To enable, by competent rewards, the employment of qualified and trusty persons, to reside among them [the Indian tribes] as Agents, would contribute to the preservation of peace and good neighborhood. If, in addition, an eligible plan could be devised, for promoting civilization among the friendly tribes, and for carrying on trade with them, upon a scale equal to their wants, and under regulations calculated to protect them from imposition and extortion, its influence, in cementing their interests with ours, could not but be considerable.
Now, these Indians were not US citizens; they were members of sovereign tribes with which we had signed diplomatic treaties. For all intents and purposes, they were as foreign as Mexico is today. The Indian agents to which Washington referred were employees of the federal government, men like Benjamin Hawkins, Henry Knox, George Rogers Clark, and Return Meigs. As such, their missions were paid for by federal funds. Agents spent considerable time living with the tribes and tried to guide their political and economic development; efforts included religious instruction, education, and commercial assistance. Whether or not this was successful is irrelevant to the constitutionality of the endeavor. (Indian removal, reservations, and the like would all come later.)
In this speech, we see the theory that has guided the history of US foreign assistance: helping other people will, in the long run, also help us. George Washington and his immediate successors embraced this notion, as did every single Republican president of the 20th century.
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May '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
In fact, conservatives use these Christianizing efforts as evidence that the Founders never intended our modern version of the separation of church and state...
Oct '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
I just accidentally left a lot of comments on (what I thought was a centrist--at first) center-left (like like left) blog. After seeing the self-congratulation there, I decided we Ricochet'ers should work harder to avoid this.
So, I will say that some Democratic presidents felt this way about foreign aid too. Certainly Clinton did, and (if I'm remembering right) Kennedy.
Now I feel better. Man do I hate self-congratulatory, lefty blogs. Especially when they begin discussing how "those nasty bigoted inland states that hate poor people." Eww. But it did emphasize the importance of avoiding groupthink.
Oct '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Oops, that doesn't make much sense. The comments were "accidental" because the stars aligned, and liberal economists were actually saying things I agree with. Unfortunately, it didn't last. I think some of them were Marxists.
Jan '11
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Democratic support for foreign aid goes without saying. ;-)
Agreed on lefty self-congratulation.
Jul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Well, I don't think it's unconstitutional. I do doubt it's value. It seems to me that we provide this largesse in entirely too uselessly routine a manner.
How's about taking the carrot away from time to time, & offering two or three at others? I understand that there are budgetary constraints, but why on earth aren't we promoting competition amongst the beneficiaries?
Jul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
That wasn't "foreign aid". That was dispatching diplomats to a foreign entity.
I rely upon James Madison. When a bill came before Congress to provide financial aid to French refugees who had fled the slave uprising in Haiti, he passionately opposed it, saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
I suppose it's arguable that providing financial aid to other countries falls under the Federal government's mandate to engage in diplomacy in order to provide for the common defense, but doling out taxpayer cash for AIDS in Africa strikes me as outside that mandate.
Edited on Feb 3, 2011 at 7:46pmOct '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Palaeologus: That's the best idea I've ever heard. I bet it would cut down on corruption, and get more money to the people. Countries could compete on past performance with aid, and whether they meet certain objectives.
I'm not a big believer in foreign aid (I think it crowds out domestic investment) but with this sort of approah maybe it would work.
Jan '11
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
That's the ingenious idea behind the Millennium Challenge Corporation, one of the many unsung initiatives of the Bush administration. I agree aid is often misdirected, misspent, or just counterproductive.
Jan '11
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Madison! The dude supported the Indian agent program, too -- hard to get more benevolent than civilizing the natives. ;-)
Was always more of a Hamiltonian myself...
Jul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Tristan Abbey: Madison! The dude supported the Indian agent program, too -- hard to get more benevolent than civilizing the natives. ;-)
Was always more of a Hamiltonian myself... · Feb 3 at 9:02pm
There is a distinct difference between sending emissaries and doling out cash.
Do you have any documentation that Madison supported the Indian agent program?
Edited on Feb 3, 2011 at 9:20pmJul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Is anyone aware of any legal challenges to foreign aid that have worked their way to the Supreme Court?
Jan '11
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Well, sure...all things in moderation. Calvin Coolidge, perhaps, said it best in his first State of the Union: "Our country has one cardinal principle to maintain in its foreign policy. It is an American principle. It must be an American policy. We attend to our own affairs, conserve our own strength, and protect the interests of our own citizens; but we recognize thoroughly our obligation to help others, reserving to the decision of our own Judgment the time, the place, and the method. We realize the common bond of humanity. We know the inescapable law of service."
Jul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Context is everything. Do we know for a fact that Coolidge was advocating the transfer of taxpayers' money to foreigners.
And just because he had noble ideals doesn't make it constitutional.
Jul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Tristan Abbey
That's the ingenious idea behind the Millennium Challenge Corporation, one of the many unsung initiatives of the Bush administration. I agree aid is often misdirected, misspent, or just counterproductive. · Feb 3 at 8:36pm
But why isn't that program the default position for U.S. foreign aid? From a quick search, that program constituted maybe 7-8% of foreign aid at it's height. Certainly, I'd rather have some of our expenditures determined by behavior than none.
But I just can't grasp why all foreign aid (read: USAID) isn't held to the same standard. Tactically, I have a hard time believing that would be a domestic political loser.
So, why set up a separate corp? Why not make all aid conditional in such a fashion?
Jan '11
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
If you click on the link I provided, it takes you to the context: six paragraphs later he talks about taxpayers' money we have transferred to foreign governments in the form of loans: "These are very substantial interests, which it is the duty of our Government to protect as best it can. That course I propose to pursue. It is for these reasons that we have a direct interest in the economic recovery of Europe. They are enlarged by our desire for the stability of civilization and the welfare of humanity." So again, the blending of idealism with pragmatism.
Your statements leave you in an interesting position: you say foreign aid is unconstitutional (because it's "doling out cash"), but using federal funds to dispatch emissaries with the mission of educating, teaching, and developing the economic and political systems of foreigners (i.e., the Indians) is OK? If it's not OK, then George Washington and his successors were engaging in unconstitutional behavior.
Jan '11
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Palaeologus
So, why set up a separate corp? Why not make all aid conditional in such a fashion? · Feb 3 at 9:41pm
Bureaucracies are tough nuts to crack. MCC was a reaction to the problems faced by USAID. Setting up a new corporation gives fresh impetus to the initiative, enables the president to showcase his support for it in a special way, etc. Trouble is the future: President Bush is gone; will MCC survive?
May '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Foreign aid that is not directly linked to national defense should be unconstitutional.
Edited on Feb 4, 2011 at 12:48amJul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Tristan Abbey:
Your statements leave you in an interesting position: you say foreign aid is unconstitutional (because it's "doling out cash"), but using federal funds to dispatch emissaries with the mission of educating, teaching, and developing the economic and political systems of foreigners (i.e., the Indians) is OK? If it's not OK, then George Washington and his successors were engaging in unconstitutional behavior. · Feb 3 at 9:44pm
You misunderstand me. I'm not a constitutional scholar, so I am uncertain whether foreign aid is unconstitutional. I suspect it isn't in all cases, as in some instances it could be construed as a method of providing for the common defense. But I think in many instances, it cannot be justified on that basis. Giving billions to Haiti, for instance doesn't make us one whit more secure.
As far as dispatching emissaries, that is the routine duty of our State Department, but it doesn't mean the Constitution empowers them to carry satchels full of cash in order to carry out their duties.
Edited on Feb 3, 2011 at 10:01pmJul '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
My point, exactly, Michael.
Dec '10
Re: Foreign aid is unconstitutional?
Do you think that Thomas Jefferson knew something about the constitution? He knew that the Louisiana Purchase was not constitutional. He did it anyway.