By Ray DiLorenzo, STAND UP AMERICA
It has been told that when Winston Churchill heard that the United States had been attacked at Pearl Harbor, he said, “Britain is saved.” In actuality, Churchill wrote of that day in his own account of World War II, “Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”
Who can match or put a price on the blood and treasure this nation has given to spread freedom and prosperity around the world?
We are perhaps the most generous and certainly the least appreciated country on the planet. During World War II, America fought on two massive fronts and supplied most of the military equipment to European countries as well as Russia and China. We have developed technology used by every nation. That can’t be surpassed by any other country in the world.
Who lifted Europe and Japan from the devastation of war? The Japanese were astounded by the generous and humane treatment they received after the war. Within hours after the Japanese surrender, B-29s were dropping food bundles. The U.S. helped rebuild their economy and infrastructure and even helped write their new constitution. The home Islands that we fought on and occupied, like Okinawa and Iwo Jima, were returned.
The United States invested heavily in rebuilding Europe. As an example, Great Britain was bankrupt and France was stripped bare. The Marshall Plan of 1948, officially called the European Recovery Program, was designed to help rebuild European economies. The United States gave the equivalent of $130 billion in 2015 dollars to struggling countries. Was it pure altruism or unselfish concern? No, not completely. It was partly to prevent the takeover of countries that were being measured for Bolshevik suits. Freedom was preserved.
In almost every foreign emergency, it is the United States that answers the call…earthquakes, floods, famine, we are there. After the 2004 Tsunami that hit South East Asia, it was the United States that was on scene first with the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. They delivered medical equipment, food and clean water.
In 2015, the United States spent nearly $49 billion in foreign aid. 38% went to promote long-term economic development. 35% to military and security aid…helping allies purchase U.S. military equipment, training, and funding peacekeeping missions. It is the United States that underwrites much of the security of every free nation on earth. And still the United States is owed approximately $6.1 trillion from nations around the world.
And yet, the United States, through these many years since both world wars, has endured much ingratitude.
And what do we get for all our aid?…270% tariff on U.S. dairy products arriving in Canada, effectively locking out our farmers…in 2017, an EU trade surplus of $174 billion…a Chinese trade surplus of $376 billion with the U.S. in addition to stealing much of our technology. Even Mexico enjoyed a $71 billion trade surplus with the United States in 2017. France reveled in a trade surplus of $15 billion while Canada savored a $17 billion surplus…money leaving the United States and not coming back. Since previous administrations decided to endure this kind of imbalance, our ‘friends’ see no reason to change it. Now that President Trump demands fair trade, our Allies and China are screaming trade war!…audacity.
Some of our senators, who can’t stand anybody being mad at us except Russia, are looking for short-term happy instead of long-term stability. They cowardly are beginning to fold, trying to limit President Trump’s trade authority. We can’t let this happen. They will give away the store.
One-sided trade relationships are draining our country and making our country weak. We buy from them, but they won’t buy from us. President Trump promised to make our country great again. Let him do it.
Trump is just getting started.