Extremely Sad But True - American People vs. Rebuilding Haiti

Absolutely no comparison. Haiti isn't our responsibility.

And my feelings are, my government has unilaterally decided to make a donation with *our* (meaning all Americans) money. I don't need to give more.

The "government" there is so corrupt that even during "good" times, people were starving and had no where to live. Where did all the hundreds of millions of dollars that the US donated every year go?

To the crooks in the government, that's where. I would guess that months down the road, you're going to be hearing about all the millions of dollars that went directly into someone's pocket ~ not where aid was most needed.

Many of the corrupt people perished in the earthquake. Now maybe the best opportunity for the Haitian people and their country to get rid of the corruption and build a solid country.

They have a great port. If they can make the area safe then many will dock the cruise ships there and make this a tourist destination.
 
well it sounds like to me we need to get that under control first...not saying we shouldn't help but that we need to prioritize better first...

edited to add: we have to get ourselves in order before we can help b/c it's not there ...we can't help if we don't have it to help...so I suggest we get ourselves together and know where it is coming form ...

We need to get that stuff in order but millions of lives are in trouble right now and they can't wait for 10, 20 or even 30 years to us to get this stuff in order. Many will die from illnes, lack of safe drinking water and decaying bodies in the next few days. They need help ASAP and we need to give it to them.
 
For those who want the money spent for our own immediate national interest, maybe you can look at it this way:

1) it's a practice/training ground for our troops and aid organizations to perfect emergency planning that might one day save some major metropolitan US cities (as opposed to what happened in Katrina) Lessons learned here in logistics may help someone you love someday in a tragedy closer to home.

2) the very last thing we need is Haiti becoming a new target for terrorist recruitment. We do a lot of talk about "nation building" -- our own back yard isn't too bad a place to start.
 
Many of the corrupt people perished in the earthquake. Now maybe the best opportunity for the Haitian people and their country to get rid of the corruption and build a solid country.

They have a great port. If they can make the area safe then many will dock the cruise ships there and make this a tourist destination.

Haiti already is a tourist destination. Cruise ships have been docking there for years. :confused3
 

For those of you who are opposed to Government led relief efforts, would you be more comfortable with a charity led relief effort?



Rich::
 
Honestly I just get so amazed that people will make a stink over $150 million. That amount is nothing when you look at the big picture. We've spent hundreds of billions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and I think you can argue that we've seen very little in tangible benefits for such a large "investment." The reality is $150 million would do so little to "solve" any problems in our country. Maybe it could solve a problem in your city or community, but on a national level? I doubt it could do much.

And do we really need to give "the world" any more reason to hate us? This $150 million will buy us plenty of good will. Our economy sucks right now but that doesn't mean the government can just put everything on hold.

And if people are so adamant that our government NOT spend more than in brings in, we better get used to some MAJOR cuts to services here, because it doesn't seem like anyone wants to pay higher taxes.

I am PROUD that some of my tax dollars can go to help people who TRULY need our help!
 
Free4Life11 wrote: I am PROUD that some of my tax dollars can go to help people who TRULY need our help!

:thumbsup2

TC:cool1:
 
but i do not feel that it is our government's place to give on our behalf. Our government has no money to give. That is our money. They just made a donation for you, if you are a tax payer.

There is nothing as wasteful as a government relief effort...

:thumbsup2

whenever the "government" doles out money they are giving away our money, not theirs. It isn't only the billions and trillions that get thrown around but when our ships or aircraft are used in these situations it is you and i who are filling those tanks and paying for the personnel.

Taken in that light even if we don't give one cent beyond the man power we are all donating hundreds of millions of dollars just in supplies and time. It effectively mandates the charity since the taxes that go to fund these things sure as heck aren't voluntary. Now, imagine if all that money went to the problems we have here instead of being sent out to the world.

I don't want any charity forced via taxation but the least we could do with the ridiculous amount we pay is keep it here to help our own.

personally i think the federal government should stay out of most, if not all, of it.

exactly. What about our schools who are having to make huge budget cuts? What about every other program that was deemed unnecessary and was cut? Its ridiculous. I thought we were broke?

Its funny. Actually, extremely laughable. People whine and complain about bailouts and stimuli and how they are going to push our national debt sky high, but somehow we find 150 million dollars that we don't have in the first place? Its okay?

there is a difference between family and non family ...you have to draw the line somewhere..

haiti isn't our responsibility.

And my feelings are, my government has unilaterally decided to make a donation with *our* (meaning all americans) money.

I'm almost at a loss for words at the complete lack of human compassion here. And don't give me the argument that you feel sorry for them, but it's not our problem. When seeing a tragedy of this magnitude, I don't concern myself with borders. I don't have that utter lack of compassion that would allow me to turn a blind eye while hundreds of thousands lie suffering and dying. It seems while the Haitian people are suffering beyond imagination, some of you would like to turn this into some sort of political debate about government spending. In my opinion, this is so completely heartless. There aren't enough words to describe my feelings. I know we are in a recession right now. Still, that doesn't lessen the shock of so many people that are not only willing to turn a blind eye, but actively advocating against our government aiding a country that is undergoing a catastrophe that we all pray will never befall us. It is truly a sickening feeling knowing that there are people in our country that have such selfish and uncaring attitudes towards this disaster. Again, don't tell me that you feel pity for the Haitians. I don't buy it. The government's actions are appropriate. We should not be concerned with borders. We should not be concerned with our deficit in a situation like this. There is plenty of government waste that can be cut in order to reduce our deficit. This is not government waste. This is an issue of humanity, of helping our fellow man. Just my opinion.
 
human life is human life.

in the grand scheme of things, i have no problems giving that money to haiti. It's a desperate situation and as a human being, there's no way i could look at a situation like that and say "nope, sorry, can't help you out". i would be ashamed of the united states if we just looked away.

i am going on almost 2 years still looking for work and on unemployment and a single mom. I just started food stamps but i did donate to the haiti fund fri. Night because i believe we must help our fellow man. especially those that had so little before the quake and now have next to nothing and they need our help, and i believe that any help they receive that most haitians will work side by side to learn and assist in trying to rebuild their lives.

there's a big difference between what problems we have here than the absolute devastation in haiti. Their whole country has basically been reduced to rubble. Hundreds of thousands are dead, many including americans. There are reports the american death toll in haiti will surpass 9/11!!! Children are dying of simple infections antibiotics could cure, thousands of haitians will face amputation of some kind. The infrastructure is post-apocalyptic. You cannot imagine the suffering down there. If we turn our backs on this nation i have lost all faith in humanity.

We have fema, homeless shelters, food stamps, unemployment, haiti has had no kind of agencies like those that can help the poor in haiti. The whole country is poor. criticizing those of us that have donated and continue to help in the relief effort is unbelievable.

nationality is a man-made designation and i am not about to check someone's passport in order to determine if they are worthy of my charity. Humanity is what matters most to me.

i totally understand that as citizens you want your own people taken care of, but this is a separate issue from helping third world citizens who have been devastated beyond belief. it is our duty to help other human beings - it's as simple as that.

ahh, the compassionte dis boards.

As someone who spends a lot of time in detroit, no way can you compare the two situations. Yes, things are terrible in detroit.

But they are beyond horrific in haiti.

Detroit children are going hungry, but they are not starving to death, or having untreated infections slowly kill them, or having to pick for food among rotting corpses.

beyond the obvious moral imperative of us helping, which i'm surprised anyone can question, there's also the fact that haiti just isn't that far from the u.s., and the u.s. Wants stable countries surrounding its border.

The attitudes on this board are illuminating. Shocking as well.

well, i think helping the people dying in the street for lack of food and water and medical attention trumps going after the supplier of 5000 dollar toilets. We can't turn our backs on the suffering. what happened to the values we supposedly espouse? They can't wait! The dying can't be put on hold so we can "prioritize better first." they are burning the bodies of children on the streets to stop the spread of disease, it makes me sick!

:thumbsup2 I couldn't have said it better myself. It seems so obvious what the right thing to do is. It's instinctual in most people. For all our faults, at least our nation hasn't lost it's moral compass entirely and still can be a beacon of light for others in times of need. Seeing our country step up to the plate and take action so quickly gave me great pride for being an American. We are doing what is right. When situations like this happen, I often look at my son. Do I want to teach my son to be compassionate when a catastrophe of this magnitude happens, or do I want him to just have a "not my problem" attitude. I am very happy that I can look my son in his eyes and tell him this is what America is about. We don't turn a blind eye to the suffering of others. We can be a compassionate people.
 
It's interesting. The U.S. routinely gives aid to other nations and I can't recall ever so much fuss until it was Haiti. What is it about Haiti?

Personally I'd rather see our government doing this than some of the other things they spend billions on but we all differ in our opinions of course.

LOL. that's an easy question. It's a poor country that has no oil.

Here are the aid given by the U.S. according to country. Only now is it a problem. very interesting.

Israel recieved over 200 million bucks in 2007 3/4 for military aid
Egypt recieved 1,795 million 3/4 for military aid
Columbia 558 million for supposed drug abatement
Jordan 461 million to keep the peace in the middle east.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/foreign_commerce_aid/foreign_aid.html

I can't even imagine the outcry if we even thought about cutting foreign aid to Israel.
 
I'm almost at a loss for words at the complete lack of human compassion here. And don't give me the argument that you feel sorry for them, but it's not our problem. When seeing a tragedy of this magnitude, I don't concern myself with borders. I don't have that utter lack of compassion that would allow me to turn a blind eye while hundreds of thousands lie suffering and dying. It seems while the Haitian people are suffering beyond imagination, some of you would like to turn this into some sort of political debate about government spending. In my opinion, this is so completely heartless. There aren't enough words to describe my feelings. I know we are in a recession right now. Still, that doesn't lessen the shock of so many people that are not only willing to turn a blind eye, but actively advocating against our government aiding a country that is undergoing a catastrophe that we all pray will never befall us. It is truly a sickening feeling knowing that there are people in our country that have such selfish and uncaring attitudes towards this disaster. Again, don't tell me that you feel pity for the Haitians. I don't buy it. The government's actions are appropriate. We should not be concerned with borders. We should not be concerned with our deficit in a situation like this. There is plenty of government waste that can be cut in order to reduce our deficit. This is not government waste. This is an issue of humanity, of helping our fellow man. Just my opinion.


Where in my post do you infer that I PERSONALLY DID NOT DONATE? I certainly didn't say that. I did in fact donate my own money to Haiti relief. I have no problem with individuals, corporation, etc donating time and money to any organization. My problem (if you want to call it that) is our government using money that WE DON'T HAVE to donate to the relief efforts. Individuals should donate, governments should not.
 
LOL. that's an easy question. It's a poor country that has no oil.

Here are the aid given by the U.S. according to country. Only now is it a problem. very interesting.

Israel recieved over 200 million bucks in 2007 3/4 for military aid
Egypt recieved 1,795 million 3/4 for military aid
Columbia 558 million for supposed drug abatement
Jordan 461 million to keep the peace in the middle east.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/foreign_commerce_aid/foreign_aid.html

I can't even imagine the outcry if we even thought about cutting foreign aid to Israel.


Do you really think that the those that don't approve of goverment donations to Haiti disapprove because they don't have oil? Seriously!?!?!?

Where are we getting all of this money to give to ANY country? Answer me that! It has nothign to do with what commodities they may or may not have. We simply do not have the money to be the world's saviour anymore.

BTW, we have given BILLIONS of dollars to Haiti in foreign aid.
 
Do you really think that the those that don't approve of goverment donations to Haiti disapprove because they don't have oil? Seriously!?!?!?

Where are we getting all of this money to give to ANY country? Answer me that! It has nothign to do with what commodities they may or may not have. We simply do not have the money to be the world's saviour anymore.

BTW, we have given BILLIONS of dollars to Haiti in foreign aid.

I agree ...where is the money coming from? and I personally don't approve of us giving to some of the ones that have and do give too..so just b/c I am saying that I don;t approve of how much we are giving to Haiti doesn't mean i approve of the others as well..

for the record I am only saying that I don't like how much we are giving not that we shouldn't...

and I do have compassion I do which is why we should teach them to fend for them selves instead of asking for handouts...I am all for helping others help themselves...

i don't expect anyone to support anything we need or want ..why should I support someone does expect it...

just to clarify here ..as I see it with us not teaching to fend for themselves (not just Haiti) we are building it up for them to expect it...
 
I agree ...where is the money coming from? and I personally don't approve of us giving to some of the ones that have and do give too..so just b/c I am saying that I don;t approve of how much we are giving to Haiti doesn't mean i approve of the others as well..

for the record I am only saying that I don't like how much we are giving not that we shouldn't...

and I do have compassion I do which is why we should teach them to fend for them selves instead of asking for handouts...I am all for helping others help themselves...

i don't expect anyone to support anything we need or want ..why should I support someone does expect it...

just to clarify here ..as I see it with us not teaching to fend for themselves (not just Haiti) we are building it up for them to expect it...


How can they help themselves if they have NOTHING!? It has all been destroyed. You obviously don't grasp the extent of the devastation. It is ground zero there. We can't just stick our heads in the sand and hope it all gets better there, we have to DO SOMETHING! We as a nation cannot forsake these people...
 
Do you really think that the those that don't approve of goverment donations to Haiti disapprove because they don't have oil? Seriously!?!?!?

Where are we getting all of this money to give to ANY country? Answer me that! It has nothign to do with what commodities they may or may not have. We simply do not have the money to be the world's saviour anymore.

BTW, we have given BILLIONS of dollars to Haiti in foreign aid.

Yep, I seriously believe that's the reason. If not then the question that begs to be answered is why all of a sudden is it a problem.
Never a hoot about foriegn aid any other time? Not so much as a peep when the Tsunami aid went pouring out and we were in a deficient then. We gave hundreds of millions last year to Israel, where was the huge out cry then? So why all of a sudden there's a problem?
Economy tanked last year and Californias economy was in the crapper but we still gave a boat load of money to Pakistan, did I miss that post with the outrage?
 
Maybe we should send all of OUR unemployed people(especially contracters) to Haiti to help rebuild and pay them for their work as well as help out Haiti a little.

I was just saying this the other day. :thumbsup2 I think it's a great idea.
 
Where in my post do you infer that I PERSONALLY DID NOT DONATE? I certainly didn't say that. I did in fact donate my own money to Haiti relief. I have no problem with individuals, corporation, etc donating time and money to any organization. My problem (if you want to call it that) is our government using money that WE DON'T HAVE to donate to the relief efforts. Individuals should donate, governments should not.

:confused3I never said that you "personally did not donate". My issue with your statement was the belief that our federal government should stay out of it. That's the statement I quoted from you. I think it's great that you donated. My issue is that the government is absolutely the best equipped to efficiently handle a tragedy of this magnitude. As another poster pointed out...

I'm not sure you understand what "aid" means. It's not pallets of cash, it's troops on the ground, ships that are acting as hospitals, food and water, communications equipment, etc etc etc. Most relief organizations could not co-ordinate an effort the way the US government, or any government for that matter, could.

A Hollywood telethon or ordinary Americans donating is great, but it cannot coordinate a relief effort of this magnitude in such a short amount of time. This is why we have government - so when something like this happens, a swift relief effort can get underway.

So, just to be clear with you, my issue is that I don't agree with your views about the government staying out of it. That is the statement of yours that I quoted. I do think that it is a sad reflection of our country when people would argue against our government helping others in dire need - and instead suggest that our government should just ignore it and stay out of it.
 
Here is just some of what the US Government has helped with...taken from USAID.gov.

I just have to know...for those opposed...are you really willing to let the people helped by US intervention die??? Because from what I can tell, you don't actually care if they die because we don't help.



INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION
At the request of the Haitian government, the U.S. continues to coordinate America’s relief efforts with the United Nations and the international community. We are coordinating closely with more than 30 nations and hundreds of NGOs to deliver food and water quickly throughout the country.

Secretary of State Clinton discussed Haiti with UK Foreign Secretary Miliband and the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Catherine Ashton, earlier today in Washington. The Secretary stressed the vital partnership underway in Haiti, with the U.S. and EU countries working side by side on relief and rescue operations, and the need for a “coordinated, integrated, international response to the reconstruction and the return of prosperity and opportunity to Haiti.”
At the United Nations, the U.S. Deputy Ambassador, Alejandro Wolff, addressed the UN press corps to draw attention to the broad international character of the rescue and relief effort in Haiti. Held just before another pledging round for the UN Flash Appeal, Ambassador Wolff was joined by UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes and the Ambassadors from Haiti, Brazil, Canada, France and Uruguay.

HEALTH/MEDICAL
Yesterday, the hospital ship USNS Comfort started receiving injured patients from the local hospitals and international medical facilities. The Comfort has a crew of 850 to provide a host of medical services, and will eventually provide nearly 1,000 hospital beds, and 11 operating rooms.
The USNS Comfort has treated more than 230 patients received from 10 hospital sites already.
As of January 21, more than 7,000 patients have been treated by the 5 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) from the Department of Health and Human Services and one International Medical Surgical Team (IMSuRT) in Haiti (all funded by USAID/OFDA). These teams treated 2,160 patients on January 20.
Each DMAT has 35 staff members and 40 beds and functions as a field emergency room, while the IMSuRT has 50 staff members and 35 beds and performs disaster surgery.

Haitian people reach for World Food Program biscuit packets during a UN food distribution in the center of Port-au-Prince, January 20, 2010. (AFP)

AIRPORTS & PORTS
The airport in Port au Prince is open around the clock. The U.S. Air Force continues to manage air operations at the request of the Haitian Government. And the State Department continues to coordinate closely with our international partners and NGOs to facilitate the smooth arrival of aid and personnel. This is a consultative process with the government of Haiti and the UN involving dozens of international assistance flights, beyond U.S. civilian and military flights.
On January 20, 153 flights arrived (38 of those were official U.S. flights).
For example, of the 330 arrivals from January 16 - 18, approximately half were civilian/humanitarian, and less than 30% were military:
155 were civilian aircraft,
91 from U.S. military and government aircraft, and
84 from international governments and militaries – the proportion of international flights is rising.
On 1/18, flights landed from: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United States, Ukraine, and from the United Nations and numerous international aid organizations such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the World Food Program (WFP).
The WFP has placed a coordination cell at the airport in Haiti to assist with the prioritization of flights and the movement of humanitarian assistance through the airport to areas of need in Haiti.
The port is beginning to receive some ships and is about 30% operational. The port at Jacmel, southwest of Port-au-Prince is currently operational during daylight for certain vessels. U.S. Army/Navy dive teams with underwater construction teams continued to assess port structural damage.
U.S. Transportation Command reports that since commencing air operations, a total of 160 missions have been flown that have carried more than 2,600 tons of relief supplies and more than 2,500 military and relief personnel into Haiti.
SAFETY & SECURITY
As of January 21, approximately 13,000 military personnel (10,000 afloat and 3,000 ashore) are a part of the relief effort.
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) continues to provide assistance in support of Leogane and Petit Goave. They currently have 356 Marines ashore.
The remaining assets from 2/82 Brigade Combat Team and equipment will complete deployment to Port-au-Prince by January 22. They currently have 3,062 soldiers on ground.
As of January 21 there are 20 U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships, 63 helicopters, and 204 vehicles in the joint operations area.
The U.S. Coast Guard has 12 aircraft operating in Haiti:
Five C-130 airplanes
One C-144 airplane
Three H-65 helicopters
Three H-60 helicopters The U.S. Coast Guard has 6 vessels:
Coast Guard Cutter Valiant
Coast Guard Cutter Tahoma
Coast Guard Cutter Forward
Coast Guard Cutter Oak
Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton
Coast Guard Cutter Legare
Additionally, the Coast Guard has 3 vessels in the Florida Straits to support any tasking related to Haiti relief efforts: Coast Guard Cutters Alert, Dependable, and Venturous.
The U.S. Coast Guard has 801 service members on site assisting with recovery:
26 ashore,
719 afloat,
56 aircrew.
SOUTHCOM funded and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) contracted for the purchase of 50,000 hand held radios to distribute to the Haitian people.
As of the last night, 43,800 radios had arrived in Port-au-Prince. The remaining 6,200 radios are slated for delivery to Special Operations Command South by January 25 and flow into Haiti thereafter
The Military Information Support Team (MIST) in coordination with USAID will begin distribution of these radios immediately. 60,000 stickers, with the frequencies on them, and 60,000 hand bills that demonstrate (with pictures) how to operate the radio will be distributed with the radios.
This hand held radio initiative is part of an overall effort to reach the people of Haiti via FM/AM broadcasting of VOA programming and CJTF Haiti public service announcements.
EVACUATION & RESCUES
The U.S. government continues evacuations from Haiti around the clock. The total number of people evacuated from Haiti by the U.S. is approximately 10,500, of which 8,300 were American citizens. More than 1,100 Americans have been evacuated today, as of 3 p.m.
Search and Rescue: Currently, 43 international USAR teams, comprised of 1,739 rescue workers, with 161 dogs, are working in Haiti. 6 of those teams are from the United States – with 511 rescue workers from Fairfax County, Los Angeles County, Miami, Miami-Dade, Virginia Beach, and New York.
USAID/OFDA has provided more than $36 million in support of U.S. USAR teams deployed to Haiti to date.
U.S. USAR teams are currently conducting secondary reconnaissance missions throughout Port-au-Prince following the aftershock yesterday.
FOOD & WATER
C-17 air delivery of food and water resumed today -- 14,000 water bottles and 14,500 MREs/Humanitarian Rations were slated for delivery. The drop zone is in the vicinity of Mirebalais, about 25 miles northeast of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. A MINUSTAH battalion secured the site.
U.S. military aircraft, helicopters, and vessels are giving the highest priority to the shipment of water. Over the past several days, JTF-Haiti has distributed more than 600,000 bottles of water and more than 400,000 meals/humanitarian rations. The USS Carl Vinson is producing 100,000 gallons of potable water daily. Water tanks are being installed in each zone of the city and potable water is now available at 45 distribution points. The U.S. Coast Guard has distributed a total of 38.5 tons of water (62,880 bottles). And USAID/OFDA has delivered 9 water treatment units to provide 900,000 liters of safe drinking water for 90,000 people per day.
More than 238,000 meals/humanitarian rations and 400,000 bottles of water were delivered yesterday alone.
The Crowley vessel Maracajam arrived in the Dominican Republic yesterday with more than 60,000 meals/humanitarian rations and water for the WFP.
The USNS Lummus, capable of producing 94,000 gallons of potable water, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
USAID/FFP has contributed food assistance worth $68 million.
To date, International Organization for Migration (IOM) has delivered 240,600 water purification tablets for household use, 3,300 water containers, and 1,920 hygiene kits (funded by USAID/OFDA) to several neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince.
Today, World Vision, in partnership with USAID, started distribution of 2,000 metric tons of Food for Peace (FFP) commodities. The commodities will meet the immediate food needs of 18,670 families, or approximately 93,350 individuals, in Petion Ville, Delmas, and Port-au-Prince.
Yesterday, a USAID/OFDA-funded flight carrying emergency relief supplies arrived in Port-au-Prince. Commodities included equipment to maintain a field hospital, including a trauma kit and air-conditioning unit. This is in addition to the water treatment units, ten-liter water containers, hygiene kits, rolls of plastic sheeting, and water bladders provided in recent days.
ADOPTIONS & ORPHANS
Yesterday, Secretary Clinton announced that the State Department is heading up a joint task force with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to focus on orphans and unaccompanied minors, to streamline the process of adoptions, and to ensure that these families are united as quickly as possible while still ensuring that proper safeguards are in place to protect children in our care. An interagency working group has been established to focus on the humanitarian needs of highly vulnerable children. And the Administration is also working closely with the many Members of Congress who are understandably very concerned about this process.
On Monday, Secretary Napolitano announced humanitarian parole for certain Haitian orphans. We remain focused on family reunification and must be vigilant not to separate children from relatives in Haiti who are still alive but displaced, or to unknowingly assist criminals who traffic in children in such desperate times. To do so, we strongly discourage the use of private aircraft to evacuate orphans. All flights must be appropriately coordinated with the U.S. and Haitian governments to ensure proper clearances are granted before arrival in the United States.
ASSISTANCE
As of January 20, USAID had contributed $90 million to the U.N. appeal, including $22 million in non-food assistance and $68 million in food assistance. An additional $73.9 million in bilateral assistance for search-and-rescue and other assistance had also been committed as of December 20, bringing total USAID assistance to Haiti to nearly $165 million.
 
:confused3I never said that you "personally did not donate". My issue with your statement was the belief that our federal government should stay out of it. That's the statement I quoted from you. I think it's great that you donated. My issue is that the government is absolutely the best equipped to efficiently handle a tragedy of this magnitude. As another poster pointed out...



A Hollywood telethon or ordinary Americans donating is great, but it cannot coordinate a relief effort of this magnitude in such a short amount of time. This is why we have government - so when something like this happens, a swift relief effort can get underway.

So, just to be clear with you, my issue is that I don't agree with your views about the government staying out of it. That is the statement of yours that I quoted. I do think that it is a sad reflection of our country when people would argue against our government helping others in dire need - and instead suggest that our government should just ignore it and stay out of it.


Since when is the government the best or most efficiently equipped for anything?

We, as in where I work, are still in the beginning stages of coordinating sending a team to Haiti. We didn't get to New Orleans until atleast 3 weeks later. That is not efficient, IMO.
 




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