Text 7041, 125 rader
Skriven 2005-01-06 21:46:00 av JOHN MASSEY (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av LEE LOFASO
Ärende: Proud Democrat
======================

LL>Hello John,

LL>>LL>The U.S. gives 0.1% of its GNP to foreign aid.  That is 21st out
LL>>LL>of the top 21 industrialized countries in the world.  However,
LL>>LL>because of the large amount of remittances sent by Mexicans
LL>>LL>living in the U.S. back to Mexico, some folks claim that the U.S.
LL>>LL>ranks 9th in the world, just behind France, in doling out foreign
LL>>LL>aid.

LL>JM>That list is based only on money given by the US Government under
LL>JM>the heading of aid. If you include the total cost to the US for
LL>JM>using it's military as a relief agency, plus all the private and
LL>JM>cooperate, donations directed to this disaster, you would find
LL>JM>that the US comes a lot higher on the list.

LL>Oh, my.  Let's just include everything in the entire FY budget!
LL>That'll place us #1 for sure!  Imagine that, $2.3 trillion spent
LL>on foreign aid!  Wow!


America the stingy
Larry Elder 

January 6, 2005

"It is beyond me . . . why are we so stingy, really," said U.N. 
Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, after the 
tsunami in southern Asia. " . . . Christmastime should remind many 
Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become. . . . " And in 
a statement that might shock defeated presidential candidate John Kerry, 
Egeland said voters want their taxes increased. " . . . [I]n the United 
States, in the European Union, in Norway which is No. 1 in the world, we 
want to give more . . . as taxpayers. . . . [P]oliticians . . . 
belie[ve] that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much and the 
taxpayer wants to give less. That's not true. They want to give more."

Actually, Americans do want to give more -- with the emphasis on "give." 
Indeed, so far, Americans pledged over $200 million in tsunami aid. 
Normally, Catholic Relief Services' Web site receives $40,000 per month. 
Since the tsunami, online contributions are $100,000 per hour. The 
American Red Cross has received pledges over $100 million, with more 
pouring in daily. Yet on more than one occasion, former President Jimmy 
Carter sounded the America-is-cheap theme. On PBS television a few years 
ago, Carter said, "It's all very disturbing to me as a former president 
that this nation with generous people in it has become by far the 
stingiest nation on earth."

Here we go again.

Last year, American government provided 35 percent of worldwide relief 
aid. In private contributions, American individuals, estates, 
foundations and corporations gave over $240 billion to charitable causes 
in 2003, according to Giving USA Foundation. Privately, Americans give 
at least $34 billion overseas.

Josette Shiner, former Empower America president, points out that more 
than 80 percent of Americans belong to a "voluntary association," and 75 
percent of households report charitable contributions. Shiner wrote in 
1999, "Americans look even better compared to other leading nations. 
According to recent surveys, 73 percent of Americans made a charitable 
contribution in the previous 12 months, as compared to 44 percent of 
Germans, and 43 percent of French citizens. The average sum of donations 
over 12 months was $851 for Americans, $120 for Germans, and $96 for the 
French. In addition, 49 percent of Americans volunteered over the 
previous 12 months, as compared to 13 percent of Germans and 19 percent 
of the French."

Of the 184 subscriber nations of the World Bank -- which provides 
financial assistance and debt relief to developing countries for 
particular sectors or projects with low-interest loans, interest-free 
credit and grants -- contributions paid in by America make up over 17 
percent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) focuses on providing 
financing for general support of a country's balance of payments and 
international reserves. Again, of the IMF's 184 nations, the U.S. does 
the heavy lifting, providing 17.5 percent of contributions.

What about debt forgiveness? The United States forgave about $14 billion 
in foreign debt from the late '80s through 1995. Since 1994, the U.S. 
has worked with the Paris Club -- an informal forum of creditor 
countries -- to review, negotiate and adopt debt relief programs for 
poor countries, recently badgering France and Germany into agreeing to 
forgive 80 percent of the $39 billion owed by Iraq.

America twice assisted Europe in World Wars I and II. America took the 
lead in defeating the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and continues to 
provide troops and military assistance to European nations and Southeast 
Asia.

United Nations' Egeland brags about his native Norway, which, in giving, 
he says, "is No. 1 in the world." Norway gives 0.92 percent of their 
gross domestic product (GDP) to foreign aid development, versus 0.14 
percent in this country. " . . . We have . . . no country up to the 1 
percent . . . line of foreign assistance in general," says Egeland, "and 
we have, I think, three . . . Scandinavians that have exceeded -- and 
Holland -- the 0.7 percent line of gross national income for 
assistance." Yes, Holland gave $12.2 billion in foreign aid in 2003, but 
that was following two years in which it received more aid than it gave. 
Besides, these numbers overlook Americans' private contributions, which 
equal 2.2 percent of our GDP. Add the value of volunteer time 
contributed, and -- even when calculated at minimum wage -- that gives 
you another $100 billion.

Add in the amount of money spent to protect other (often wealthy) 
countries --  military spending is 3.3 percent of our GDP, versus 
Sweden's 1.7 percent, Denmark's 1.6 percent, Norway's 1.9 percent, and 
Holland's 1.6 percent -- and, as Ronald Reagan might have put it, not 
bad. Not bad at all.

As to the tragedy in southern Asia, consider other actions taken by the 
United States so far: providing aircraft carriers, transport planes, 
helicopters, military support, logistical support, ships carrying food 
supplies, reconnaissance planes and warships, sending disaster 
assistance teams, shuttling supplies and advance teams to Sumatra's 
northwest coast and sending cargo planes carrying Marines and water 
purification equipment to Sri Lanka.

Former President Clinton, never missing an opportunity to take a swipe 
at a sitting president, said a few days after the tsunami, "It is really 
important that somebody take the lead in this." Well, Mr. Clinton, 
someone has -- America. Like always.

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