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popeye1250 -> RE: Can Barak "get ghetto?" (2/18/2008 2:28:06 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: LadyEllen
Hi Popeye
I have to say I have similar ideas about the way we give money out to countries who griped and groaned that they wanted independence from us - seems they dont understand that independence means theyre on their own. However at the same time I recognise that there is very little of these monies which is actually given freely, and that very few benefit from it - on both sides of the cheque book. Its we little people over here who get to fund, back or guarantee the monies and its the little people over there who rarely see a penny of it.
Given the sorry state of affairs throughout the whole sphere of "donations" by whatever name they are described, I would suggest that were they stopped tomorrow then those for whom we might imagine the monies are being sent, would not be able to tell any difference. In my view, they are hang overs from the Cold War, when it was useful to buy allies and buy off enemies, and now redundant. I would like to see the whole thing reorganised such that those who need mosquito nets, anti-malarials, school books and other things alike, get them -without any regard whatsoever for new tanks, planes and limousines provided for the benefit of the crooks who run many of these countries, and with similar disregard for the benefit of the crooks running such schemes over here.
And as for NATO - I think youre exactly right. Many members are not pulling their weight as they might, and indeed whenever NATO is called on, it seems to always fall to the same usual suspects to provide, with the same usual suspects showing great reluctance to get involved. It needs to be reorganised - if indeed it is to be maintained at all - and the only source of motivating that reorganisation and the reinvigoration required as I can see would be if the US pulled out of the European side of it - perhaps taking Canada along to form a separate but cooperative North American side. This would force other European members to step up to the mark, and I see no other means to accomplish that.
As for Obama and all this - I really dont think you or we will see any change in policy in these regards from him. But I still think he's your best candidate for the moment - the US, its people, the west and indeed the whole world needs someone with his charisma and ability to inspire to get us through the next few years - like it or not who your president is has worldwide implications, and it has to be better to have someone with some vision such as he seems to demonstrate. If only he can ride the wave of fallout from Bush.
E
LadyE, yup, it's left for Great Britain and the U.S. to do all the heavy lifting and all the heavy bill paying for an org. like "NATO" that shouldn't even exist anymore.
And Yahoo had an article a few weeks ago about the "richest zipcodes" in the U.S. and it was no surprise to me that a lot of them were in the Virginia suburbs, "where many lobbyists live."
Even congressional staffers make jokes about the lobbyists, "$1,000 allegator shoes."
It's become institutionalised stealing.
I have no problems with individuals donating their own funds to overseas charities, that's the way it should be done but I do have a problem with my congressman voting for, "$34.6 Billion" taxpayer dollars for "foreign aid."
And you're right again about who'd "scream the loudest" if we ended this graft, it would be the lawyers and lobbyists in Washington on "K" street!
And from what little information that I've seen on it they make absolutely obscene amounts of money on their "commissions."
Can you imagine how much the lobbyists for Israel are making off of $4B per year that they're screwing the U.S. Taxpayers out of?
If they're getting a 20% "commission" that would be what, $800 M per year?
As for candidates there's 300 million people in this country.
There are people on this site that I would vote for before the three bozos we have running right now!
"Charisma?" Where?
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