Is U.S. Foreign Aid Money better off staying at Home?

The Lexington Herald Leader has a nice, short article on U.S. foreign aid and the recently defeated amendment by U.S. Senator Rand Paul which proposed using foreign aid money for financing problems at home. Obviously, it sounds good at first. But as the article points out, only 1% of the U.S. federal budget goes to foreign aid. If that 1% can help bolster diplomacy and end conflicts then it seems like a pretty good investment.