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This will be a debate on foreign
aid and USAID. 

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I'm Josie, I have a broken 
camera. 

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I'm the red headed libertarian 
with Tim Kass Media and I will 

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be the moderator tonight. 
Tonight's debate features Cenk 

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Wieger, founder of The Young 
Turks, advocating in favor of 

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foreign aid, Mike Benz, 
executive director of Foundation

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of For Freedom Online, 
supporting reform of foreign 

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aid, and Keith Knight, top 
editor at the Libertarian 

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Institute arguing for abolishing
for an aide. 

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Welcome, gentlemen. 
Thank you for having us. 

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My pleasure. 
So we will not be doing any 

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formal time keeping tonight. 
So I just ask you to be mindful 

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of each other speaking time. 
This debates going to be free 

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form and I'll be here to guide 
the discussion behind that still

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picture of me. 
All right, So does everybody 

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agree to these terms? 
Yes. 

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Wonderful. 
Sure. 

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Thanks guys. 
So I'm going to kick this off by

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asking each of you a position 
defining question and I'm going 

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to start with Keith. 
Keith, what are the primary 

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reasons you believe foreign aid 
should be completely abolished? 

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When I say American foreign aid,
I'm generally referring to 

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resources given or lent by the 
United States government to a 

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foreign government or group of 
persons in another country. 

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I want to make the case that all
foreign aid should be abolished.

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According to 
foreignassistance.gov, as of 

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June 13th, 2025, the US 
government has over $100 billion

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in foreign aid obligations 
consisting of more than 20,000 

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activities taking place in 205 
countries, primarily you, 

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Israel, Egypt, and Jordan. 
According to Pew Research, the 

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American government spent $1.07 
trillion on foreign assistance 

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between 2005 and 2024. 
Foreign aid allows the US 

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government to unilaterally put 
obligations on their domestic 

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population US and use those 
funds to increase their power 

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and social standing in other 
parts of the world. 

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The essential issue with 
government provision of foreign 

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aid is the creation of the 
service payment split. 

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The people who provide the 
service do not have to answer to

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those paying for it. 
In the case of foreign aid, 

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there's a split between those 
who pay taxpayers, those who 

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provide the service service 
politicians and Ng OS, and those

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who receive the service. 
In short, those who have the 

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power to control foreign aid 
funds do not face the discipline

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necessary to provide high 
quality services at a reasonable

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cost, since the people paying 
for it do not have a recognized 

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right to stop paying if they 
don't find value in the project.

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This would be the equivalent of 
saying Blockbuster, Myspace, 

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Sears, Toys-R-Us, and Borders 
could have resolved their 

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business issues if only they had
access to the funds of 

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involuntary military investors 
known as taxpayers. 

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Instead of companies getting 
money by meeting consumer 

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demand, foreign aid encourages 
companies to reallocate scarce 

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resources towards complying with
the desires of politicians. 

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Or in the words of Michael 
Mcclintock, these funds turn 

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entrepreneurs away from pleasing
customers and into instruments 

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of statecraft. 
Not only do politicians with 

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access to trillions of dollars 
not face the necessary 

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incentives to provide quality 
aid, but they lack the knowledge

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knowledge of how and where to 
spend the money effectively. 

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According to the Global Sent, 
the Center for Global 

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Development, total aid given to 
Africa from wealthy countries 

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since 1960 comes to $4.7 
trillion in 2013 prices. 

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Even if politicians really 
wanted to bring democracy and 

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prosperity to Syria, Yemen, 
Libya, and Ukraine, they don't 

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know how countries become 
prosperous. 

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If they had such knowledge, we 
wouldn't see the homelessness 

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and poverty that can be found in
many areas of the United States,

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an area where the same U.S. 
politicians have much more 

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control and influence. 
The American people also 

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directly bear the cost of these 
expenditures. 

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When governments don't have 
enough money to fund a foreign 

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activities through taxing their 
domestic population, they issue 

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Treasury notes, often purchased 
by the Federal Reserve, who then

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prints money and increases the 
amount of dollars in 

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circulation. 
Increasing the supply of money 

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by trillions of dollars over 
decades to fund foreign 

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activities results in each 
dollar Americans hold in their 

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savings accounts being worth 
less than it otherwise would 

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have been, leading to the 
inflated prices Americans 

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experience today. 
Notice foreign assistance is not

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a neutral tool that can be used 
for good or evil, but a 

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structurally unsound way to 
achieve national security or 

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economic growth. 
Consider another unintended 

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consequence of foreign aid. 
Lawrence Wright wrote a book in 

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2006 titled The Looming Tower, 
Al Qaeda and the Road to 911 

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from page Three O 7. 
On April 11th, 1996, when 

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Mohamed Atta was 27 years old, 
he signed a standardized will he

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got from the AL Quds Mosque. 
It was the day Israel attacked 

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Lebanon in Operation Grapes of 
Wrath. 

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According to one of his friends,
Otto was enraged and by filling 

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out his last testament during 
the attack, he was offering his 

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life in response. 
When politicians have access to 

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hundreds of billions of dollars,
they do not not have the 

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knowledge or incentive to make 
sure these funds are used in 

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such a way to keep Americans 
safe. 

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Consider the words of US 
Assistant Secretary to European 

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and Eurasian Affairs Victoria 
Nuland. 

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In December of 2013, we've 
invested over $5 billion to 

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assist Ukraine in these and 
other goals that will ensure a 

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secure and prosperous and 
democratic Ukraine. 

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American politicians should not 
have the capacity to spend 

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billions of dollars considering 
their previous pet projects have

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resulted in tremendous 
devastation. 

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To summarize my position, 
foreign aid allows politicians 

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to spend the money Americans 
work for with virtually no 

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accountability, and voters do 
not have the time or mental 

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bandwidth to pressure 
politicians into spending the 

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money in a desirable manner. 
Therefore, reforming foreign aid

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is a fool's errand because it 
empowers people without the 

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knowledge or incentives 
necessary to achieve their 

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goals. 
Thank you. 

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Thank. 
You so much, Keith.