Are We Stingy? Yes

NYT ^ | 30 December 2004 | Who Really Cares?

[.cnI redruM]

President Bush finally roused himself yesterday from his vacation in Crawford, Tex., to telephone his sympathy to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, and to speak publicly about the devastation of Sunday's tsunamis in Asia. He also hurried to put as much distance as possible between himself and America's initial measly aid offer of $15 million, and he took issue with an earlier statement by the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, who had called the overall aid efforts by rich Western nations "stingy." "The person who made that statement was very misguided and ill informed," the president said.

We beg to differ. Mr. Egeland was right on target. We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.

The American aid figure for the current disaster is now $35 million, and we applaud Mr. Bush's turnaround. But $35 million remains a miserly drop in the bucket, and is in keeping with the pitiful amount of the United States budget that we allocate for nonmilitary foreign aid. According to a poll, most Americans believe the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent.

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[maggief]

I saw it too ... unfortunately.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5160444.html

SEATTLE -- In an ordeal that made some passengers feel like hostages, about 300 people aboard an Amsterdam-to-Seattle flight were delayed for 18 hours on the ground, unable to leave the plane for much of that time, as food and water ran out and the toilets stopped working.

Northwest Airlines Flight 33 finally arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Wednesday morning, 28 hours after takeoff, after being held up by a nightmarish combination of fog, work regulations and mechanical trouble.

(snip)

Oh, boo friggin' hoo.

: /

[Jon Alvarez]

how much is China, France, Russia giving?

Amazing how fast liberals are to attack America...where is their cry of indignity for the pittance of aid to the country of Iraq?

How many liberals are going to Sri Lanka to help with the relief effort? Oh, wait, that would disrupt their Jan 20th inauguration protest in DC.

Those leftists planning to go to DC to protest should instead, donate their expenses to help the people of Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

[dennisw]

The fact that this jerk lives tax free is enlightening. He has no right to chide others on taxes. Neither does that effer Kofi Annan who must be getting the same tax free treatment.

[shubi]

Egeland was just on CNN. He said that he hopes the coming together of this aid will build peace in all the countries across ethnic lines.

Some of these countries have been committing genocide against Christians. Does he really think this will stop?

Another leftist weasel exposed.

[.cnI redruM]

You're on a roll this morning. This might fit in a tagline.

[commonguymd]

Did not know that about Leslie.

Just reminds me of how the MSM touts grieving widows on the intelligence bill without mentioning their political actions. Made to feel as if every 911 victim felt the same way.

[.cnI redruM]

how much is China, France, Russia giving?

Amounts that statistically insignificant compared to the PERSTEMPO expense being rung up by the US Navy to help locate survivors in Indonesia even as we speak.

[mhking]

And the Times claims not to be biased! That's funny!

[Lazamataz]

Let us not forget that India has said thanks but no thanks to the money.

At least India is not a whiney bunch of liberal losers.

Unlike the New Yawk Slimes.

[onevoter]

Once again, we need to pull out of the U.N. We are paying a large amount of this idiot's salary. Time to boot them out of our country and get their hands out of our pocketbook!

[weegie]

the most generous country is Japan. Overseas aid from the richest countries as follows:

Japan 7bn
US 6.9bn
UK 5.6bn
France 5.4bn
Germany 4.5bn

Source: CIA worldfactbook

[commonguymd]

And Bush leaving the UN out of the coalition to spearhead the relief efforts was just pure genius.

Make no mistake about it, the President was crystal clear that the UN was in danger of making itself irrelevant.

I am amazed by just how crafty this administration can be. It went clear over the heads of so many in the MSM. When it dawns on him, they will be in full force to discredit this action.

[Congressman Billybob]

I thoroughly agree with your assessment of the idiocy and bigotry of the New York Times, as demonstrated yet again. These clueless leftists are beyond help, and beyond hope. To tidy up my language, I spit on the "reporters" and "editors" of the Times.

I also add them, deservedly, to the list of grinches in my latest column. See below.

Congressman Billybob

Click for latest, "A Tale of Two Grinches, US and UN"

[.cnI redruM]

And while the despicable limousine liberal pigs of the New York Times Editorial Page drink their mimosas and watch the ball drop in Times Square, the sailors of The USS Abraham Lincoln will give up their holidays to help those in need. And they have the unmitigated gall to call our country stingy. Happy New Year, America!

[commonguymd]

again - government contributions. We spent 240 billion in private charities in 2003 alone.

[mewzilla]

Egeland was on CNN? Again? Jeez, CNN"s his own personal PR machine. How handy.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Yes, stingy... I remember when Algore's tax return was made public a few years ago. He gave a whopping, what, about $300 to charity that year. Of course liberals want the govt. to wrestle your money from you to give it to their causes. They won't give their own money.

[GraniteStateConservative]

We're spending our money killing Islamists. We should have given nothing to these relief efforts. That's what surrender monkey nations spend their money on.

[commonguymd]

Precisely. Only government contributions count. That is a great analogy to the reveal the truth. It is a fundamental ideological difference between conservatives and liberals, socialism vs. democracy.

[weegie]

The comment I was replying to stated tax dollars.

Don't get me wrong the US is generous. The idea that everyone else is not is a little annoying though.

UK charity spend in 2000 - 14bn