Vern Buchanan Hammers Obama's Plan to Send More Foreign Aid to Middle East

President Barack Obama offered a new vision of American policy in the Middle East in a major speech on Thursday -- but Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan is not buying parts of it.

Buchanan, who called for a re-evaluation of foreign aid last week, said on Thursday that the president should not be sending billions overseas to help develop democracies in the Middle East.

The presidents decision to announce a major new foreign-aid plan just 72 hours after the United States reached a statutory debt ceiling displays a disturbing disconnect with the financial reality facing our nation, Buchanan said. We are broke. We need to put America first and stop trying to buy loyalty and friendship from countries that may not have our best interests in mind.

Instead of using our tax dollars to spur business investment in Tunisia, lets use the money to create jobs in America, added Buchanan. He singled out more American taxpayer dollars going to Egypt -- which gets $1.5 billion annually already.

Giving Egypt $1 billion in debt relief when our own nation is on the road to bankruptcy makes absolutely no sense and just continues Washingtons reckless spending decisions of the past decade, Buchanan said. Now, more than ever, we should be focusing on policies that grow our own economy, create jobs, and reduce the massive federal deficit.