I come to my keyboard out of utter disgust tonight. I am filled with thoughts of anger, shock and sorrow. I am sure that you guys have been watching the news lately and all know about the tsunami that has killed upwards of 100,000 people in Asia. We have witnessed the second great event that is going to shape our century. Although it does come from a natural cause, this disaster pales no less then that of the attacks of 9/11 in New York. However both situations have been handled very differently.
After the attacks of September 11th the United States made it clear that terrorism will not be tolerated. This is a good thing. However I shudder when I stop to think of the money being spent everyday for this war to happen. All the lives of soldiers that are being lost on top of those who died in the initial attacks. It is estimated that by the time the war is over, if it ever ends, that it will cost upwards of 200-250 Billion dollars. Let me give you another little tidbit of information. The inauguration party of the newly re-elected President Bush is going to cost the American tax payers somewhere in the ball-park of 40 Million dollars, yes that's right I said 40 Million.
What's the big deal you ask? Well let me tell you. The United States has agreed to send 35 Million dollars in aid to help those affected by this natural catastrophe. Now I don't know about you but if I can do math right, that is 5 million less then that of what is being spent on a party. A party to tell us something that we already know, that Bush will be President again. Something seem wrong here? Oh yeah, in one day last year, Dick Cheney made 35 million for selling some stock options that he held in a company. And that is all that the US is sending in aid. Canada is not much better in only sending 40 million dollars in aid. However when you think of the population ratio, 30 to 1, it makes the 1.30$ a person in Canada seem like a huge amount over that of the 11 cents of every person in the US. President Bush made his first address concerning the disaster that happened on Sunday today, Wednesday. He was faced with questions and comments that the money was "too little too late." His re-buttle to that comment was that, "the person who made that statement is ill-informed." Ill-informed? Are you kidding me? Mr. President, with all due respect maybe you should read your paper a little closer. 100,000 people are dead, and that number is expected to double due to disease if help does not arrive soon. Maybe Mr. Bush is the one who is ill-informed. Or maybe it is the public who are the ones who are in the dark. In the dark about these facts that the government doesn't want you to hear because it might make them look bad. Watch the news and stay informed!
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6 comments:
I'm happy to be an American, though things like 40 million dollar parties make me sad at not just our government's excessiveness, but modern society's skewed priorities.
What better time than now for us Christians to give aid to those who need it! Not to make a name for ourselves...I think Jesus did a good job of whupping up on the Pharisees for that one...but because we, if anybody should, should be the first ones to give.
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell and Florida Governor Jeb Bush will travel to the areas of Asia and Africa most affected by the tsunamis to survey the damage, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.
The delegation will leave Jan. 2 to meet with regional leaders to ``assess what additional aid can be provided by the United States,'' Duffy told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where President George W. Bush is vacationing.
The U.S. will also join the European Union at a proposed conference to gather international aid for victims of the tsunamis in Asia and Africa, the State Department said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aedAsTz0SEHc&refer=top_world_news
We do have the enitre world contributing to the diaster relief, about 1/2 a billion dollars, but we're not sure yet as to how much is needed. Of course they shouldn't spend that much on a party, it's just whacked prorities. But saying that everyone was ill-informed was correct; nobody knew that he was going to send a delegation to survey the damage and see how much more money was required. Please don't post comments like "maybe his brain doesn't work very fast and he need a long time to decide something." To me, that seems like a personal attack on the President.
I don't think it was a personal attack on the President at all. Maybe all the bad publicity he has gotten over the last couple of days made him decide to send these people over. I mean there would be no reson for him to hide this fact from anyone. Espeacially when he was faced with that comment of doing too little. Why wouldn't he say that the US was sending over help? I think this is his way of reacting to all the negative comments coming towards him. I think that it is great that the US is sending over people to help, although to do it after you everyone hounds you about not doing enough...kinda makes your question your motives.
Give Bush a chance. It seems that people are very quick to judge. If you were giving away millions of dollars would you not check the situation out a little closer to see where the needs are? I'm so tired of everybody bashing Bush.
I am a Canadian living in America and I certainly appreciate the president - it could be much worse!
What is Canada doing?
Please see the following update:
U.S. Boosts Tsunami Aid Tenfold to $350M
By DEB RIECHMANN
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - The United States is pledging $350 million to help tsunami victims, a tenfold increase over its first wave of aid, President Bush announced Friday.
``Initial findings of American assessment teams on the ground indicate that the need for financial and other assistance will steadily increase in the days and weeks ahead,'' Bush said Friday in a statement released in Crawford, Texas, where he is staying at his ranch.
``Our contributions will continue to be revised as the full effects of this terrible tragedy become clearer,'' he said. ``Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this epic disaster.''
Bush also is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to Indian Ocean coastal areas ravaged by earthquake and tsunami to assess what more the United States needs to do. The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, will travel with him.
The newly announced aid came after some critics claimed that the initial U.S. contribution of $35 million was meager considering the vast wealth of the nation.
France has promised $57 million, Britain has pledged $95 million, Sweden is sending $75.5 million and Spain is offering $68 million, although that pledge is partly in loans.
Powell was traveling to New York on Friday to discuss the crisis with U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Bush said disaster response officials are on the ground and the United States has established a support center in Thailand that is in operation. More than 20 patrol and cargo aircraft have been made available to assess the disaster and deliver relief supplies, he said.
``Many of those aircraft are on the scene,'' Bush said.
The president said the United States has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, a maritime squadron from Guam and an amphibious ship carrying a Marine expeditionary unit. ``They will soon be in position to support relief efforts to include the generation of clean water,'' he said.
On Friday, the president spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin about the relief and recovery efforts and was briefed by Powell and National Security Council officials on the efforts under way.
White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy, who read the president's statement to reporters on the phone, did not disclose details of where the additional U.S. aid was being found in government coffers. He said, however, that the administration was talking with congressional officials about replenishing funds being used to back the tsunami aid pledge.
The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has experience with extensive hurricane damage in Florida, will travel with Powell overseas. A congressional delegation headed by Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, a former U.S. foreign service officer, is scheduled to visit Thailand and Sri Lanka next week.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who often travels to blighted areas, said Thursday he plans to visit India to try to help victims of tsunamis that have left millions of people at risk of disease.
``I feel like I've been hit in the stomach,'' Frist, R-Tenn., said in an e-mail to friends and supporters. ``It is like 9/11 but so different. There is no one to blame.''
Andrew Natsios, chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said his staff arrived in the stricken areas on Monday, and he stressed the importance of assessing needs and organizing.
``This is a very complex operation,'' Natsios said Friday on CBS' ``The Early Show.'' ``If it's not managed properly, we can actually slow down the relief effort.''
Canada was added Friday to a coalition of countries and organizations planning relief efforts. Others are the United Nations, the United States, Japan, India and Australia.
If the words 100,000 dead and millions homeless and displaced don't imply that as much aid as possible in needed then every mean nasty and derogatory thing ever said about Bush's brain must be true. Promising the aid is not the same a loading up a plane with money and dropping it from the sky. The US will get to choose where and how it is spent. I agree with Jon. When it was going to be a financial drain on an uber broke administration it was we will do a little something. When it was a chance for some good public relations the money flowed. My question is how different is this situation from the 40 million for the inauguration. Both are a whole lot of money and both are going to make Bush look good.
i realize this is late and will likely never be read, but oh well. the inauguration party does not cost the tax payers $40 million, it costs backers and funders of the Republican party $40 million.
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