Rick Perry: Time to consider defunding United Nations

AP Photo/Isaac Brekken

Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry said Tuesday that "it's time for us to have a serious discussion about defunding the United Nations."

At the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Perry was asked, "Why do we continue to send foreign aid to other countries when we need all the help we can get for ourselves?"

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After saying "I think it's time for this country to have a very real debate about foreign aid," he turned to the U.N., pointing to the Palestinian statehood push in order to criticize the organization.

"When you think about the Palestinian Authority circumventing those Oslo Accords and going to New York to try to create the conflict and to have themselves approved as a state without going through the proper channels is a travesty," he said. "And I think it's time not only to have that entire debate about all of our foreign aid, but in particular the U.N. Why are we funding that organization?"

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Perry won cheers and applause for the comment and for his earlier call for a "serious discussion" of defunding the organization.

After Perry finished, Mitt Romney defended the notion of foreign aid, saying it plays a role in national defense. But he added that "we're spending more on foreign aid than we ought to be spending."

Ron Paul, a vocal opponent of U.S. military intervention abroad, said foreign aid "should be the easiest thing to cut."

"It's not authorized in the Constitution that we can take money from you and give it to particular countries around the world," he continued. "To me, foreign aid is taking money from poor people in this country and giving it to rich people in poor countries. And it becomes weapons of war."

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Paul said he would cut aid to Israel, which he said "teaches them to be dependent." Michele Bachmann quickly disagreed, calling Israel "our greatest ally." She added, however, that she supported cutting foreign aid in general and said American should be "reimbursed by nations that we have liberated."

"We should look to Iraq and Libya to reimburse us for part of what we have done to liberate these nations," said Bachmann.

[cntrygirl3]

Perry has nothing but old ideas the same ones republicans have been resurfacing since the forties. Get rid of social security, get out of the UN, drill for oil in America. Don't trust science etc. At least Dubya had a few new lies to tell us. Apparently Perry can't even think up an original position to take.

[Progress4USA]

Same old story from the right: Hate the U.N., de-fund NPR, stop abortions, stop gay marriage, end gun control...what a crock!

[sloppy-mcjohnson]

The UN started out as a noble idea but has become an ineffective and anti- American organization. It is full of countries who either envy us or hate us and are constantly voting against us. The UN has allowed atrocities to happen in countries like Bosnia, the Sudan, etc, before anything gets done because of the bickering that goes on before action is taken. We fund the majority of their general budget only so they can slap us in the face. The want to take control of our national resources and control our industries and productivity, ban our rights to own guns and basically take away our sovereignty in their One World order plans.
Kick them out of the US and have them relocate in Europe or the Middle East and let someone else foot their bill for their operations.

[snparris]

This is so backwards. Yes, I agree that the UN has a long way to go in the way of being more efficient, and I'm just as frustrated as the next guy that the UN was not able to intervene effectively in Rwanda, Sudan, etc. But, for you to say that the UN slaps the US in the face and uses them is absolutely ridiculous and out of line. The US completely controls the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council. We play a huge role in the inefficiencies of the UN because we veto anything that doesn't have our direct interest in mind which is completely against the principles of the UN. If you want the US to leave the UN to make it better, that's an interesting strategy, but at least know that we are the ones creating problems. Do some research, please.

[ajvw]

Send the UN to Haiti.

[robo_duck]

The US should start certainly cut all foreign military aid to other countries' especially to Israel who is more than capable of paying for their owns guns rather than sucking off of US taxpayers. I don't know where Michelle Bachmann got the notion that Israel is an ally of the US (most likely from AIPAC), Israel has never once provided any troops to aid the US in a war and has routinely been caught spying on us, so I would love to hear what her measure of an ally is.

As far as economic aid, I believe that most Americans would vote to continue to send food and medicine etc. to those in need, but money to prop up the dictatorships and thiefdoms the US has aid to control in the past.

As far as the UN, the US has to remain a member of the democratic body of nations, but it certainly cold ask the the EU and the new economic superpower China to pitch in more.

[nomorehags]

DEFUND THEM AND KICK THEIR A--! OUT OF THE COUNTRY. ITS ABOUT TIME RICK PERRY SNAPPED OUT OF IT. RICK PERRY IS THE ONLY CONSERVATIVE WHO CAN BEAT OBUMA! ROMNEY IS A MORMON AND A LIBERAL WIMP. CAIN WANTS EVERYONE TO EAT ONLY APPLES AND ORANGES WITH HIS 25/25/25 TAX PLAN ONCE ITS ALL SAID AND DONE! WAKE UP AMERICA RICK PERRY IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BEAT O B U M A !!!!!

[callen1034]

The United States gives 0.14% of its GDP to foreign aid. That ranks the U.S. as the lowest giver in terms of foreign aid, of ANY industrialized nation.

Let's stop pretending we're so generous. Cutting foreign aid would do next to nothing for this economy, because, quite frankly, we give next to nothing.

[tsigili]

That's a valid issue to bring into debate. We really need to decide if the UN is performing its functions well enough, for the amount of money we spend to support it.

[imnho]

Rick Perry has his hind parts where his Brain parts should be. Foreign aid is necessary to keep the peace and to minmize the need to deploy are Armed forces over seas.

As one politician ounce said, "it's better to jaw jaw then war war. Sometimes if we keep people talking they wind up not shooting each other or shooting at us. defunding the UN would preclude this.