Mia Love is a rising star in the Republican Party and gave a rousing speech at the Republican National Convention last month.
But the first-time congressional candidate and African-American Mormon also has a budget proposal at odds with most of her party.
In a printed proposal obtained by ABCNews that features Love’s picture and touts “Mia’s initial plan to cut spending and get America back on track,” she lists a proposal to “End foreign military financing,” an act that would save $5.4 billion, according to the CATO institute, a libertarian think tank.
The proposal, which is not featured on Love’s website, doesn’t elaborate and Love’s campaign did not respond to a request for more specifics, but there is a program run through the Department of State called Foreign Military Financing that has spent about $5.4 billion each year.
The catch that puts Love at odds with other Republicans? About $3 billion of that money goes to Israel, according to the State Department’s website.
Support for Israel’s military is popular in Congress. House Republicans added $1 billion to that military aid as part of the Defense Authorization for next year.
President Obama also signed a new law adding $70 million additional for a missile-defense shield this summer just as Mitt Romney embarked on a trip to Israel.
Back in March, when the House considered a bill to reinforce that official U.S. policy is to “To provide Israel the military capabilities necessary to deter and defend itself by itself against any threats,” the vote was 411-2. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., was one of the opponents.
“While I absolutely believe that Israel – and any other nation - should be free to determine for itself what is necessary for its national security, I do not believe that those decisions should be underwritten by U.S. taxpayers and backed up by the U.S. military,” Paul said in May.
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