Posted on 12/29/2004 11:29:16 PM PST by Pikamax
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.
Bush administration officials help create that perception gap. Fuming at the charge of stinginess, Mr. Powell pointed to disaster relief and said the United States "has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world." But for development aid, America gave $16.2 billion in 2003; the European Union gave $37.1 billion. In 2002, those numbers were $13.2 billion for America, and $29.9 billion for Europe.
Making things worse, we often pledge more money than we actually deliver. Victims of the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago are still living in tents because aid, including ours, has not materialized in the amounts pledged. And back in 2002, Mr. Bush announced his Millennium Challenge account to give African countries development assistance of up to $5 billion a year, but the account has yet to disperse a single dollar.
Mr. Bush said yesterday that the $35 million we've now pledged "is only the beginning" of the United States' recovery effort. Let's hope that is true, and that this time, our actions will match our promises.
you dont pledge a blank check. These people are idiots.
At the time we pledged the 15 Million, we hadnt yet known of the nearly 100,000 dead.
You all got money. Why not shut the hell up and donate yourselves.
If there's one thing I can't stand, it's rich people bitching about other people being too stingy without stepping to the plate.
LOL!
You just can't make this crap up. The NYSlimes parody themselves. What a bunch of ratbastards!!
I would like to see a listing of the tsunami relief contributions made by the editorial board, staff, and owners of the NY times, along with a breakdown of the amount as a percentage of their income and net worth.
Please don't take to long doing this, guys. You know how awful it was that bush didn't make a personal appearance at his ranch until tuesday. Clinton would have been feeling their pain in a well timed appearance monday morning if he was still president.
Besides, the President didn't want 72 hours - the President was on the phone the following day the event - offering any needed supplies or whatever - according to the leader of Indonesia. In fact - the guy said that Bush was the first one to call and offer assistance.
So .. while the Clintons, the NYT and the Wash Compost are whining that Bush was on vacation and not paying attention, Bush was already way ahead of them. They are really small and pitiful people. This continued vilification of Bush will continue to lose them elections.
So the NY Times has to find a category where the US doesn't give the most. sheesh.
Sweden and Belgium also send more sex toy aid to foreign countries than the US does. I am surprised the NY Slimes left that out.
I want to know how much the NY Times is giving.
Why do we get so worked up over this commie rag? We shouldn't even give them any extra publicity. The paper has no integrity and we shouldn't even give it any attention.
Never mind how many members of the New York Times editorial board are kicking in relief money, or even how much. How many members of the Times editorial board are actually working over the holidays?
It is obvious to me that their goal is not to help those who suffer..Their goal is a political one of trying to damage the image of America and George Bush. Read Ann Coulter's, "Treason," and the scales will fall from your eyes. The NYTimes has not changed in forever. Their goal is clear.
Unfortunately, the NYTimes is still in campaign mode.
Just look at where the charitable giving takes place in this nation..I believe the Red States are the givers.
The Iranian government chooses to spend it's enormous oil revenues on a nuclear weapons program, yet in the NYTimes' view, Iranian housing problems are our fault.
They want words which sound good but which may never deliver the promise..George Bush is long on integrity and action. He is not a political "gigolo." Promising tonight what he will never deliver in the morning.
OK NYTimes. Eat s$%^ with a rusty spoon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.