03 February 2006

Funding Says it All

This morning I was at the gym, reading the Post Express as usual. On page 5 I noted the blurb at the top stating "1%: The Proportion of the federal budget...Bono has challenged the U.S. government to give to the world's poor...would equal about $26 billion".

The headline just below reads:
"Bush Asks $120B for Wars"

With my excellent math skills that calculates to 4.6% of the U.S. budget.

Apparently that means that Bush, and his god-loving self, feel that War is worth nearly 5 times as much as fighting poverty.

Wonder what his "Moral Majority" would say about that. But, I guess that since it isn't hurting the 'sanctity of marriage', isn't 'harming the economy', isn't a 'threat to the nation' and isn't hurting our 'freedom' it doesn't matter.

Maybe I should talk to him about how poverty is economically instable and impermanent as we are producing it globally. Perhaps he would listen if I told him that poverty is a threat to security. I wonder if he would even care to note that his own neo-fascist laws limit freedom.

I wont even start on his religion.

I think he knows. I think he and his pals just don't care.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd rather like to see that money spend on our failing public schools and internal social programs. There's enough poverty in the US already! How many times we have sent money to Africa? It seems that we have a Live 8 concert or some event every fucking year! I'm so tired of ego-driven, patronizing fools like Bono screaming for money that's gonna end up in Swiss bank accounts.
Having lived in Africa for a while, I can assure you that their biggest problem is the lack of self-government, corrupt leaders and tribal wars.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/12/AR2006021201150.html
No need to try helping people who can't help themselves.

Anonymous said...

Africa needs alot of help. The biggest problem there is the lack of education, and the common people not understanding and having access to the political process. What Bono is doing is both humane and necessary. We need to educate more, and also help with the immediate problems like aids and extreme poverty. And thanks to people like you, we are finding ways of tackling the problems.