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The USA has pumped $3 Billion Dollars into Haiti since 1993. Mind you, Haiti is a country with 9 million people and it’s a small island nation.
The Haitian government officials steal everything we send to Haiti and then place the stolen money in personal bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. The people get no aid we sent them, the infrastructure of the island is non-existent (as we have witnessed), 50% of the population is unemployed, almost 50% are illiterate, crime is rampant, tourism is non-existent, and the government is so corrupt it cannot be trusted.
Now Obama will dump $100 Million for relief efforts + God knows how much more on yet another "nation building" project.
The USA is broke. The US National Debt went from $9 Trillion by the time Bush left office to $13 Trillion, under the guise of "the smartest person on Earth", the one and only, Barack Hussein Obama, and his equally-smart Congress, in all its wisdom. The projection (rosy scenario) has the US National Debt doublingby the end of Obama’s only term, 2012. These projections did NOT take in account this Haitian disaster
The USA CANNOT afford to continue to spend money WE DO NOT HAVE and send to other countries, like Haiti. Period. Let’s stop acting like we do not know that and start doing something about curbing spending.
It is a terrible situation in Haiti, it’s a tragedy, people are suffering, but I doubt any amount of money we sent there will fix the earthquake damage and fix this disastrous situation. Short of food and water relief, what else can the USA afford to spend in Haiti to fix a broken country???
So why continue to spend money to Haiti??? How can the smartest person in the planet, Obama, not realize the USA cannot continue to send money to other countries when the USA has to BORROW from other countries to SEND money to foreign countries???
How much more ca$h can the USA afford to dump into Haiti?? Is Haiti a lost cause?? Should they take the offer from Senegal and immigrate there and start over?? Should the USA limit its aid to only water and food and then get out???
I believe a discussion must be had on this topic. It may sound mean (and believe me, I will be accused of being un-sensitive and mean here in a second), but the USA is broke and we cannot continue on this un-ending spending rampage of bailouts, government takeovers of health care, car companies, insurance companies, banks, healthcare, etc!
Can the USA "bailout" an entire NATION now???
How can the USA afford to bailout a broken country when we are financially broke ourselves????
Is anyone thinking what I am thinking about Haiti and this spending issue and are afraid to say anything for fear of being viewed/labeled "mean" or "selfish"??
I don't like all of the foreign aid that we send to other countries. I'd be fine if we closed a few of our 700+ foreign military bases, too. But Haiti is a special case. It's very close to our borders and we have a lot of Haitian immigrants (which gives us somewhat of a moral obligation). If you were talking about Somalia or Kuwait, I might agree with you, but with Haiti, no. That's not to say that our strategy has been sound. To be perfectly honest, I think it sucks. But I don't think that's a good enough reason to abandon the country. I think that just means we should adjust our strategy.
Part of the problem with our strategy is that in some ways we're still stuck in the old cold war mentality. Times have changed and American foreign policy has been slow to adjust. This failure rests at the feet of Clinton and both Bushes. Perhaps Obama will make some improvements? Only time will tell.
Where were you after 3-4 yrs of Iraq? Upset that Bush was bankrolling his war with communist moola?
Doubt it.
I am angry at ANY deficit spending. Kerry wasn't a solution to the problem, thus why I did not support him. The Dems screwed up 2004, things could have been different with Dem Prez and solid GOP Congress.
One thing is for sure, though. Bush appointed some awesome Supreme Court Judges. That is about the only good thing Bush in his 2nd term. 1st term was ok, 2nd was awful.
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Originally Posted by Aqualung
I don't like all of the foreign aid that we send to other countries. I'd be fine if we closed a few of our 700+ foreign military bases, too. But Haiti is a special case. It's very close to our borders and we have a lot of Haitian immigrants (which gives us somewhat of a moral obligation). If you were talking about Somalia or Kuwait, I might agree with you, but with Haiti, no. That's not to say that our strategy has been sound. To be perfectly honest, I think it sucks. But I don't think that's a good enough reason to abandon the country. I think that just means we should adjust our strategy.
Part of the problem with our strategy is that in some ways we're still stuck in the old cold war mentality. Times have changed and American foreign policy has been slow to adjust. This failure rests at the feet of Clinton and both Bushes. Perhaps Obama will make some improvements? Only time will tell.
Aqua:
The USA should close some foreign bases to save funds. It should cut aid to lots of countries, specially since most of these countries' government officials STEAL the vast majority of the aid funds and many times use our funds to oppress the people we want to help.
In regards to being an "moral obligation", I am not seeing it. proximity, having too many of their migrants... has nothing to do with sound economics.
Not abandon the country. help them move to Senegal, since the Senegal government are offering Haitians a place to return to and live in their own farmland. I guess Senegal needs some cheap foreign labor and will give these people free land (good land, not desert), if they want to move back. Why not do that???
I am just thinking.... $100 Million in cash. Millions more in cost for food, water, and security aid. Then the cost of rebuilding the whole entire nation of Haiti. How much is this going to cost the USA?!?!?!? What country will we have to borrow from to fund rebuilding an entire country?!?!?!?
What do you mean exactly by "American foreign policy has been slow to adjust"?? How is "outdated foreign policy" related to Haiti's problem?
The USA should close some foreign bases to save funds. It should cut aid to lots of countries, specially since most of these countries' government officials STEAL the vast majority of the aid funds and many times use our funds to oppress the people we want to help.
Steal? We're giving it to them. That aid was basically bribe money from the Cold War days...support the US and oppose the USSR and we'll give you money.
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In regards to being an "moral obligation", I am not seeing it. proximity, having too many of their migrants... has nothing to do with sound economics.
The moral obligation comes from the fact that the US is in some ways responsible for the situation in that country. We have not been kind to our American neighbors since we decided to become an empire (the Teddy Roosevelt days). I'm not saying the US is evil or that we deserve 100% of the blame, just that we played a part.
We stand to gain a lot by having strong, free, stable neighbors.
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Not abandon the country. help them move to Senegal, since the Senegal government are offering Haitians a place to return to and live in their own farmland. I guess Senegal needs some cheap foreign labor and will give these people free land (good land, not desert), if they want to move back. Why not do that???
Because it's a stupid idea. Mass relocations NEVER turn out well. They always end in slavery/war/genocide/etc. I don't doubt that some people in Senegal have good intentions, but this is the real world. People with power (money) will exploit the situation for their own gain.
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What do you mean by "American foreign policy has been slow to adjust"??
I gave an illustration in my first paragraph. Propping up dictators because we fear the Domino effect may have been an effective tactic last century (that's debatable), but it's certainly not anymore.
There are other aspects, but it's getting late and I'm getting too tired to write a coherent post on the subject.
Sure we can. It's easy. Just declare Haiti too big to fail...
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The people get no aid we sent them, the infrastructure of the island is non-existent (as we have witnessed), 50% of the population is unemployed, almost 50% are illiterate, crime is rampant, tourism is non-existent, and the government is so corrupt it cannot be trusted. 
What country will we have to borrow from to fund rebuilding an entire country?!?!?!? 
