I have a really profound lack of faith in government, especially my own government. This rings especially true when it comes to how they spend their/our money. Right now we still have a lot of people that are suffering here in North Carolina because of a rather "vigorous" hurricane season and we are told there is no more money. FEMA has been really lackluster in their relief performance with many people being outright denied any sort of help. To be told that FEMA doesn't have any more money and then get news that the President is on TV talking about how proud he is to be sending a billion dollars for flood and drought relief in Africa, is a real kick in the nuts.
While I live in an area that is essentially flood-proof provided the ocean doesn't rise 20 meters - at which point a lot of the world would be completely screwed - I do see hurricane damage first-hand when traveling around the state especially to populated coastal areas such as Wilmington. There are constantly houses there with tarps on their roofs because the roof was ripped off or a tree fell through it, and while I have not been there the western part of the state was absolutely ambushed by flash flooding that came with the "bit o' rain" that tends to accompany hurricanes. I was in an apartment in the 90's during hurricane Floyd that completely destroyed my apartment complex.
In these situations I feel as though some people got what they deserved such at the ultra-wealthy that build massive houses on the sand in an area that is well-known to get rough seas, high winds, and massive erosion during hurricane season. The people whose entire modest lives are destroyed mostly by water control creations like dams or levies, I feel very sorry for them. They should be compensated by a government that they are giving 20-50% of their paycheck to when disaster strikes.
The government saying in one sentence that "we don't have any money" and then saying "we are sending a billion dollars to Africa" is maddening.
Now I don't want to make this about any particular political figure, but Biden is steering the ship right now and it was him that made this announcement about aid to Africa. I think one of the reasons why Trump got elected is because I don't think he would do something like this. I'm not saying that USA should just stand back and let people die around the world, but is it really greedy for me to suggest that a country should always prioritize looking after their own citizenry first? To me that just seems like common sense.
The government responded to questions by saying that they already sent a billion dollars to NC and also some other millions blah blah blah. It isn't really the number that has got people upset, it is that the job isn't finished and we are sending money overseas as if we had a surplus lying around.
"We again urge Congress to act quickly and pass a supplemental funding package to further assist communities on their road to recovery."
There they go again, passing the buck and in the meantime people are suffering and getting angry.
Call me a nationalist if you want to, but I think we shouldn't be sending a single dollar overseas to anyone until the needs of the people in this country are taken care of. That is what we are meant to be paying taxes for, isn't it?