Yeah, some of the topics like that have unintuitive consequences. For example, one question's option was "should I stop providing Foreign Aid to developing countries"? That implied that currently I was providing foreign aid. The question was should I stop providing it.
I decided not to stop and maintain the status quo, and I also received less gold. I didn't say to increase funding, why am I losing more money when nothing changed?
I guess maybe that loss of income is coming from countries that are annoyed by the decision raising less for the war effort. "That guy's spending money on dumb stuff" / "That guy's not taxing the money-loaded church" which leads to "Guess he isn't so short for cash that he needs OUR money."