Here is a fact that says everything wrong about America’s priorities. The U.S. government gives (or rather will give as part of next year’s budget) U.S. $323 million to Colombia to “stabilize” the country, and to help fight illicit drugs and the pro-communist guerrillas known as the  FARC. In comparison, the U.S. government will give the City of Detroit U.S. $108 million. What is wrong with this picture? Since the U.S. government had started operation Plan Colombia to make Colombia a stable country, it has become a stable and now fairly prosperous country. In comparison, Detroit has become a virtual battleground right in our backyard. Detroit has a murder rate of 58 per 100,000 people. By comparison, Colombia has a murder rate of 32 per 100,000 people. Detroit’s crime rate has soared while that of Colombia’s has greatly declined. On top of all this, the Detroit city government has declared bankruptcy because it can no longer even pay basic things like utilities, its police force and fire department, and can no longer take care of the hundreds of blighted communities. So why is the U.S. government giving three times more aid to Colombia than an important major city in this country?

    Here is another uncomfortable fact. We have almost as many soldiers stationed in Europe than we do in the Far East. We have 52,000 soldiers stationed in Japan and 28,000 stationed in South Korea (plus less than a thousand troops stationed in various countries in Asia). By comparison, we have 45,000 soldiers stationed in Germany, 10,000 stationed in Italy, and 9,000 stationed in Great Britain (not counting 1,000 or less troops stationed in various countries in Europe). In Asia, we face an actual enemy—North Korea. With its 1.5 million man army, North Korea is something to worry about. Plus, we also face a rising China with its growing modern army, navy and air force. We have almost as many soldiers in Europe as we do in Asia, but yet we face no military threat on that continent. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and no other destabilizing force has come into play since. It costs us tens of millions of dollars to maintain these troops and to feed them. Why are they still stationed on a continent where there is no threat?

     These two seemingly unconnected facts are part of an overall problem of U.S. government foreign policy—we are still giving huge amounts of taxpayer dollars to places where such money and resources are no longer needed, and we are not putting this money into places, especially in this country, where the money is most desperately needed. With Detroit going to hell in a handbasket will take with it many other cities and small towns in Michigan. What hits one major city does not stop there. Despite all of the problems it has, I believe Colombia can take care of itself. Plan Colombia has worked, and there is less need to give Colombia money, not more. We should have a Plan Detroit to save the city. The U.S. government should be giving more money and help to Detroit. After all, Detroit has been paying a huge amount of taxes to the U.S. government when it had the money and the prosperity.  The U.S. government owes Detroit now big time. We have troops stationed on a continent where there is no more war, no more threat, and where we as a country and people have to spend so much of our taxpayer dollars to maintain this force. I have said it before, and I will say it again here, the U.S. government should put priority on America first! We should be developing a Plan America to save this beautiful and great country. It does the whole world no good if we as a nation go broke and collapse.