Average amount of budget Americans think goes on foreign aid: 28%. Reality: 1%

[muriel_volestrangler]

2013 Survey of Americans on the U.S. Role in Global Health

Consistent with previous Kaiser polls, the 2013 survey finds that the vast majority of the public overestimates the size of the federal budget that is spent on foreign aid, with just four percent correctly saying that foreign aid makes up one percent or less of the federal budget. A majority give answers above 10 percent, and on average, Americans answer that 28 percent of the budget is spent on foreign aid.



As previous Kaiser surveys have shown, spending on “foreign aid” continues to be unpopular, and in this survey, six in ten think the U.S. is now spending too much on foreign aid, and just 13 percent say the country is spending too little. However, we also find that providing people with accurate information has the potential to move opinion significantly. When survey respondents are told that only about one percent of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid, the share saying the U.S. spends too little more than doubles (from 13 percent to 28 percent), while the share saying we spend too much drops in half (from 61 percent to 30 percent).



http://kff.org/global-health-policy/poll-finding/2013-survey-of-americans-on-the-u-s-role-in-global-health/

And the ignorance is getting worse. 2 years ago, the average guess was 10%:

Let's start with international assistance. Sixty percent of people we questioned say they'd like to put foreign aid on the chopping block. So would that make a dent in the deficit?

No - but try telling that to the American public. According to the poll, on average, Americans estimate that foreign aid takes up 10 percent of the federal budget, and one in five think it represents about 30 percent of the money the government spends. But the actual figure is closer to one percent, according to data from the Office of Management and Budget from the 2010 fiscal year's $3.5 trillion budget.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/01/cnn-poll-americans-flunk-budget-iq-test/?hpt=T2

[bananas]

1. Similar perceptions for NASA's budget

Here's some poll info from 2007, don't know if it's still as bad, Tyson and others did a lot to try to un-mis-inform people, don't know how successful they've been.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/11/21/nasas-budget-as-far-as-americans-think/

[denverbill]

2. No different from 'welfare' perceptions.

I bet if you asked most freepers, they'd say 30% went to foreign aid, 30% to NASA, 30% to welfare, and 30% to Obamaphones.

[PlanetaryOrbit]

3. Foreign aid can vastly improve the world's perception of America.

International aid could really use several more billion dollars a year. Especially in time of disaster.