The false equivalency is obvious, but totally not the point:
1- If we can send that much money to foreign governments, including ones who don't have our bests interests at heart, then our government takes too much of our money.
2 - If we have that much money to spread around, we should be spending it here at home before we spread it around to other nations. There are plenty of worthy causes that would help needy Americans much more than sprinkling 600 bucks on everybody.
3 - $600 isn't ****. Won't even pay most taxpayers' mortgages for a month. Doesn't even make a dent in the problem for most folks who really are suffering.
4 - The bill signed by President Trump in December that provides it added $900 BILLION to the national debt. Debt that our children will inherit.
5 - Most uninformed taxpayers are overjoyed that our benevolent government is doling out 600 bucks to them instead of asking why they're taking so much of our money in the first place. Which is exactly what the government wants.
There are probably more points, but that's just off the top of my head at first glance.
I agree with some of your points but I also think you are oversimplifying things, especially the nuances, motivations and needs for foreign aid as a tool of foreign policy. It is a method of protecting regional national interests around the world and projecting power and influence. Every major power does this. With the US it is conducted via long established channels that support specific goals such as the U.S. Economic Support Fund (ESF), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, De-mining and Related (NADR) programs, International Military Education and Training (IMET) and International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) programs. Nobody is just dropping money from helicopters without a plan.
Israel and Egypt are two of the largest recipients of US aid and about 90% of it goes to the purchase of weaponry and military training due to the ongoing conflicts in the middle east. Ukraine is also one of the largest recipients on the list that was posted and this is entirely for the purchase of weapons to support their government in their ongoing conflict with Russia on their eastern border which is directly connected with the interests of NATO. Interestingly, the congressionally approved funds said to have gone to Ukraine happens to be the funding that President Trump threatened to withhold from them unless they initiated an investigation into Trump's political rival Joe Biden and his son and which led directly to his first impeachment, but that's another story.
Significant aid has been provided to Sudan as well - for three key objectives: a definitive end to conflict, ending human rights abuses and genocide in Darfur; implementation of the north-south Comprehensive Peace Agreement and ensuring that Sudan does not provide a safe haven for international terrorists.
While I may not necessarily agree with how, how much and where the US spends large sums of money around the world this is how foreign policy works and one way or another it is a vital expense of government.
Spending money or taking on debt to deal with a national emergency like a pandemic is far different that spending funds for traditional foreign aid. There has never been a time in US history where the nation has hesitated to take on debt during a national crisis or emergency. This happened during the Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression and especially World War II. In each case, it eventually led to greater economic prosperity for the nation and the eventual paying down of the incurred emergency debt. The deficit spending for WWII for example and the recovery that followed the war led to the powerful economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s. It is thought that a similar thing may happen when the pandemic finally ends but we need to get there first.
We happen to be in the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression. Due to COVID we have far exceeded the number of deaths of US citizens that occurred during World War II. COVOD-19 is like a war in that sense as 510,091 US citizens have died since the pandemic began. Some parts of the economy are doing well but a great many are undergoing great hardship. Vast numbers of people have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. People are losing their homes and being evicted from their apartments. Many businesses have failed. Without government intervention our economy could tip from recession to depression which would have devastating long term consequences far worse than our current debt levels and that would lead to even greater creation of debt down the line. The idea of these large stimulus packages is to help the people and the economy along until the pandemic subsides.
What you may feel is "600 bucks sprinkled on everybody" what actually happens is that each $600 payment gets spent into the economy and helps everyone as the money circulates. And 600 dollars may not seem like a lot to you but that buys a lot of food for a struggling family. And the trillions of dollars provided by the Care Act and the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund actually are buying things that are worthwhile, highly beneficial and doing what they are intended to do. One cool and very visible example here in Vermont is the "
Everyone Eats" program. The program uses federal and state funding to pay restaurants to create take out meals that are given out daily to anyone in need upon request, no registration or paperwork required. Just ask for as many meals as you may need for your family. It was started locally in my home town as a pilot program and was immediately so successful it spread throughout the entire state. The program provides nutritious gourmet quality meals to people in need of food assistance, but is also a stabilizing source of income for Vermont restaurants, farmers, food producers and other workers. The program has been transformational and has keep many restaurants and small farms in business that would otherwise have gone under by now. Many of these farms and specialty food producers supply the restaurant and hospitality industry but all that came to an abrupt halt with the pandemic. This is where some of the Federal relief funding got "sprinkled".
I certainly understand how you feel about the national debt. Our debt levels are indeed a major concern that needs to be addressed. Nevertheless, I believe you are missing something here. If you read what many well respected mainstream economists and economic advisors are saying, if you to need to take on large amounts of additional debt to deal with a national emergency, now is the time to do it. Interest and lending rates are at zero or near zero! If a nation takes on a lot of additional debt at little or no borrowing costs then it becomes fairly easy to pay it off once the economy recovers after the crisis subsides.
