PolitiFact: Most people clueless on U.S. foreign aid spending
“…In a speech before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, [Secretary of State John] Kerry bemoaned a persistent misconception about how much money Washington sends overseas. ‘Do you know that amazing surveys show that many of our citizens think we devote a full quarter or even a third of our federal budget to foreign aid?’ Kerry said on Oct. 26, 2016. … There are different ways to tally expenses across more than a dozen agencies, but by and large, foreign aid represents about one percent of all spending. To support Kerry’s claim, the State Department press office pointed to several reports including a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a widely respected source of impartial data. … There’s nothing wrong about Kerry’s summary. We rate this claim True” (Greenberg, 11/9).