Stingy Americans........

[poet123]

Without cutting or pasting one single source, b/c there have been many articles "o2ut there" concerning this accusation.............

I am very offended that the US Government has been called STINGY! As far as aide goes, I think Americans are pretty a-ok.

Ummmm...how many countries have offered aide t/o the USA as far as our latest disasters (Florida hurricanes being one of them).

Wow. Pretty sad that we have homeless and despair in our own nation and we give to so many others and then in return we are called "stingy".

Just a vent................

I dont reallly think that name calling is at all productive, surely as people we should all unite to help those in peril. All of us on this boards are probably travellers to a greater or lesser degree and let us not forget that any of us could at any time be caught up in such a tragedy This is an issue which has always divided people, should charity begin at home?, of course it should but that should not prevent us seeing real need elsewhere.
I was in Florida during the hurricanes and there was devastation and loss of life and livliehood but not on the scale we have seen in the earthquake zone. To equate the two is laughable, and also the US government is fullly able to respond to the needs of its citizens, whether those citizens consider the response adequate is another seperate ballot box issue. The countries involved in this disaster are poor third world regimes without the resources of western society. This is evident by the fact this incident ocured at all, in more developed areas an early warning system would have been in place and a lot of the worst affected areas could have been evacuated.
When 9/11 happened the world did I hope show that we felt your pain and acted accordingly in whatever way they could, even if that was by praying because in the end sometimes that is all we can do.
Please let the good in human nature shine through and let us all stand behind our governments as they try to help. If we all donate a small amount we can make a difference.watch the coverage and act on the emotion of the moment before we all resume our daily working lives after the new year. Remember those people will not be doing that on Tuesday nor for many a day if ever.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

I finally had a chance to catch up on all of the news shows. I watched O'Reilly (the Jerry Springer of the news shows) last night to see what was going on. The show managed to cater to the lowest common denominator yet again. They discussed the "stingy American" concept just to polarize us yet again, especially during a global disaster. I guess he's got to give the "idiots" something to be small-minded about. (ugh)

 

[swilphil]

The whole "Stingy American" angle is old news and it just seems like a few are trying to keep the focus on that instead of on the recovery effort. I don't ever remember a disaster with such high numbers of fatalities. It's just mind boggling.

Americans have been so great about raising money through different groups. I hope we hear about schools and service organizations donating money to this relief effort.

 

[sha_lyn]

I do note that our government pledged some aid almost immediately. but I was rather suprised that the President didn't offer public words of compassion until several days after the tsunami occurred

That isn't true. He said something publicly within hr of it happening. He just didn't call a press conference to discuss until days later.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I wondering how much money will actually reach the people, especially if the UN is handling the money.

 

[rcyannacci]

I wondering how much money will actually reach the people, especially if the UN is handling the money.

Has the UN become an easy "strawman," or is there clear evidence to suggest that they are incapable of handling relief efforts?

 

[auntpolly]

The winners are those who are in need. If the Bush administration wants to taunt the French and the French want to increase the amount aid and that leads to more US aid, then fine. The winners are those who are the victims of this disaster.

Yes, very good post - thank you.

I was just thinking - can you even imagine if people had said the kind of things they are saying about donating for this tragedy about donating to 9/11 funds? Oh, my! There would have been outrage! Can you imagine if someone had said anything like,"Oh, I feel sorry for people, but I have problems of my own!" ? They would have been drummed of the board.

 

[ThAnswr]

Has the UN become an easy "strawman," or is there clear evidence to suggest that they are incapable of handling relief efforts?

The UN is the new flavor of the month enemy of the rightwing talk show circuit which has a vested interest in keeping the pot boiling because it puts bread on their table.

Btw, can any of these "the UN is baaaad" individuals tell us what the UN has done wrong in the last week in Asia?

And OT, Bush has really stepped up to the plate. He's sending his brother, Governor Jeb, to survey the situation.

There's got to be a joke in there somewhere.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

And OT, Bush has really stepped up to the plate. He's sending his brother, Governor Jeb, to survey the situation.

There's got to be a joke in there somewhere.

He's sending a delegation. How many other heads of state have personally visited the area?

 

[dmadman43]

Has the UN become an easy "strawman," or is there clear evidence to suggest that they are incapable of handling relief efforts?

Truth be told, relief aid is probably the only area at which the UN excels (the Oil for Food program being the notable exception). It's when they try to be world police and negotiator where they fail miserably.

 

[dmadman43]

And OT, Bush has really stepped up to the plate. He's sending his brother, Governor Jeb, to survey the situation.

There's got to be a joke in there somewhere.

President ThAnswr would have sent...whom? Who else has experience in your administration with disaster clean up from an administrative perspective?

 

[ThAnswr]

He's sending a delegation.

We had plenty of delegations come over to survey the damage after Charlie. Bush and his brother were falling all over themselves with promises and pledges. We're still waiting on those promises and pledges.

Btw, the victims of the tsumanis don't need more delegations of "heads of state". They need clean drinking water and food. You don't need a delegation that includes General Colin and Governor Jeb to figure that out.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We had plenty of delegations come over to survey the damage after Charlie. Bush and his brother were falling all over themselves with promises and pledges. We're still waiting on those promises and pledges.

Btw, the victims of the tsumanis don't need more delegations of "heads of state". They need clean drinking water and food. You don't need a delegation that includes General Colin and Governor Jeb to figure that out.

The delegations go to survey more of what they need to do. Yes they need clean water and food--but hello--they need homes and rebuilt infrastructure as well. The people need counseling, et cetera. That is what the delegations purpose is. I didn't say they needed more heads of state--I was simply replying to ThAnswr's calling out that Bush sent his brother Jeb and remarking on jokes--I read that as "Bush should have gone instead he's sending his brothers". If I mis-read the statements then so be it. I'm sure we'll hear all about it in 2008 .

If you are having problems with FEMA--you should be visiting their offices they have set up to be continually checking your status. My friend did that and she's gotten her aid. Now the contractors--that is a whole other story. I know someone who lives in an Apartment complex where many adjustors and FEMA people are staying--they leave before the sun rises and they come home after sun down. They aren't exactly twiddling their thumbs.

 

[dmadman43]

We had plenty of delegations come over to survey the damage after Charlie. Bush and his brother were falling all over themselves with promises and pledges. We're still waiting on those promises and pledges.

Then take that up with your Senator and Congressman. You do understand the President cannot spend money, right?

 

[rubyslipperlover]

after 9/11 the President made all sorts of promises to NYC too. but despite Schumer's and Clinton's best efforts, the President didn't come through for us.

 

[ElwoodBlues2]

after 9/11 the President made all sorts of promises to NYC too. but despite Schumer's and Clinton's best efforts, the President didn't come through for us.

What happened to that 20 billion? And wasn't there a huge fund set up for the surviors?

 

[swilphil]

I was just thinking - can you even imagine if people had said the kind of things they are saying about donating for this tragedy about donating to 9/11 funds? Oh, my! There would have been outrage! Can you imagine if someone had said anything like,"Oh, I feel sorry for people, but I have problems of my own!" ? They would have been drummed of the board.

And as I recall, people from around the world were extremely sympathetic after 9/11.

The good news is the President has pledged 10 times more to tsunami victims than originally planned. That does indicate that not enough was given in the first place though the increase could just be a result of the EXTREME devastation. It doesn't really matter. More money is going to help those in need.

 

[dmadman43]

$169,043,000 US donated by Americans for tsunami relief.

http://blog.simmins.org/2004/12/tsunami-stingy.html

 

[ElwoodBlues2]

$169,043,000 US donated by Americans for tsunami relief.

http://blog.simmins.org/2004/12/tsunami-stingy.html

A little more than 10 million of that just through the Amazon link.

 

[poohandwendy]

$169,043,000 US donated by Americans for tsunami relief.

That is awesome, and it will just keep coming in....