NYT: Bush Maintains Opposition to Doubling Aid for Africa

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush Maintains Opposition to Doubling Aid for Africa
By ELIZABETH BECKER and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: June 2, 2005


WASHINGTON, June 1 - President Bush refused on Wednesday to budge on his administration's opposition to doubling aid for Africa, a major proposal on the agenda for a summit meeting of industrial nations next month in Scotland.

The long-simmering dispute could culminate next week when Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, who has advocated the plan, visits Washington in advance of the July session, a meeting of the Group of 8. As host of the meeting, Mr. Blair set the agenda, and he argued during his successful campaign for a third term in office that the world's richest nations had to make a $25 billion increase in support for Africa. But Mr. Bush has been cool to the idea from the start and has resisted making new aid commitments.

Asked Wednesday about the issue, Mr. Bush said, "It doesn't fit our budgetary process."

Meeting the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, in the Oval Office on Wednesday morning, Mr. Bush also renewed his administration's declaration, first made by Colin L. Powell when he was secretary of state, that genocide was taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan....

***

While the Darfur crisis, along with the problem of AIDS, has dominated the administration's debate about assistance for Africa, Mr. Blair's call for a vast increase in the amount spent to fight poverty has created considerable tension between Washington and Britain....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/02/politics/02prexy.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. At least it's consistent with his stance for Americans, too.

[Gloria]

2. What happened with his promised aid to Africa from about a year or

two ago?

NADA.....so who's surprised??

[atreides1]

4. He made that promise

And the usual thing happened.

But remember he made the promise right before his boy Powell made his lying speech about Iraqi WMD's.

Once Powell made the speech, George was no longer on the hook. What was Powell going to say, that he lied to the world because Bush told him he would make sure money was sent to help the people of Africa!

[AuntiBush]

3. Must have ran out of that mandate money or our Social Security...

There you go. Mr. Compassionate.

Rejoice oh religiously-idiotic, faux-Christian, American fundi-nutbags.
There's you're savior, you're leader, you're man.

[applegrove]

5. He'll arrive at G8 - bark out a few order - come up with his own

agenda items & kick Africa off the menu. He always does.

[LynnTheDem]

6. It DOES "fit our budget"...IF South Africa agrees to never allow US cits

to be charged with "genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes" by the World Court.

And hey, we're so damn good at taking care of such US citizens ourselves. Why only last week one of them US war criminals was sentanced to FOUR MONTHS for torture & murder!

Why, that's longer than most rightwingnuts attended school!

[psychopomp]

7. What a weak excuse

"It doesn't fit our budgetary process."

WTF is that supposed to mean, when an 80 BILLION dollar supplementary budget to the Pentagon gets rubber-stamped by Congress?

[DeepModem Mom]

8. That was a priceless phrase Mr. W used...

especially given the state his "budgetary process" has us in.

[OKthatsIT]

9. Bush might commit, but he NEVER delivers

he's a LIAR.

[bling bling]

10. "Has created considerable tension between Washington and Britain"

Blair's learning the hard way that if it doesn't make Bush's friends money, he's not interested in spending taxpayers money on it.

[applegrove]

11. Link to today's Darfur Daily News: June 02, 2005 thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3773778

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Thanks, applegrove! nt

[Demeter]

13. Why Not? Twice Nothing Is Still Nothing

[Moderator]

14. kick

[allemand]

15. BBC: Bush opposes UK Africa debt plan

The UK's plan to write off debts owed by African nations is facing opposition in the US - and particularly from President George W Bush.

Mr Bush said a key part of the plan did not fit with the US budget process. (...)

The UK is pushing hard for major debt relief and a doubling of aid to Africa, and Chancellor Gordon Brown laid out a set of ambitious plans on Thursday. (...)

The UK has said that 2005 is a vital year for Africa, and argues that without significantly more money the United Nations' Millennium Goal of halving world poverty by 2015 will be impossible to meet.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4606197.stm

I guess crocodile tears are the essence of "compassionate conservatism"...

:puke:

[meegbear]

16. But jeepers Mr. President ...

didn't you ask the world to write off Iraq's debts?

[SHRED]

17. In shrub's world...

it's the virtuous white men(good guys) against the brown/black skinned(bad guys) evil-doers.

It's as simple as that all cloaked in kompassionate kristian bullshit to placate the masses.

[rfkrfk]

18. why does the UK need shrub's permission? n/t

[D-Notice]

19. It's more a case of getting

ALL rich countries to wipe the debts.

The US probably is the biggest creditor, so the UK needs the US to go along in order for it to make it worth it

[rfkrfk]

20. if debt is cancelled, these countries will borrow again

Ok, so a bunch of countries have defalted.
So, they pay cash for imports.
any business, can do business with these countries,
as they see fit.
The UK can give money to these countries, or not, whatever.

the only thing missing ,,, loans, commercial credit ,,,
is usually not available from banks because western countries won't guarantee the loans.
Is that so bad? Banks are free to loan money to these countries, btw.

Edit, add following.
What is wrong with, direct grants?

[applegrove]

21. Link to today's Darfur Daily News: June 03, 2005 thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3780933#