USA - The Good Samaritan

[Aquitaine]

Indirectly. To begin with, the US is throwing 2000 Marines in landing craft, a hospital ship, 3500 Army soldiers, and various other things like transport aircraft, ships, food and medical supplies at the Haitians.

The paper is getting thrown at the troops in the form of their salary and at the suppliers of the equipment and expendables that are being used, which they accept as payment for some reason.

Well atleast some physical aid is being given to the Haitians then, that is good.

 

[JMorris]

they must really be hurtin' for some help is their gonna let in US soldiers, given their history.

 

[KatNotKathy]

they must really be hurtin' for some help is their gonna let in US soldiers, given their history.

No kidding. It shouldn't be too hard to trim some fat off the military budget to fund international relief efforts. There, problem solved.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Am I the only one that is tired of us always being the good guy?

This is a very naive view of the world. Would you like me to give you the History of US intervention and the propping up blood thirsty dictators all over the Caribbean and latin America.

You seem to get your news from Fox.

We dont help others as much as you think.

example, the United States provided about $51 per citizen in official development assistance in 2002–03. That ranks it in 16th place among other major donors, behind Norway ($381 per citizen), the Netherlands ($203 per citizen), France ($96 per citizen), and the United Kingdom ($89 per citizen), among others. When aid is measured as a share of national income, the United States ranks dead last at 0.15 percent. Top givers include Norway (0.92), Denmark (0.84), Belgium (0.60), and Germany (0.28).

Foreign Policy: Error

Hey I am all for helping our fellow man, but we need to take care of ourselves first.

I remember reading in the book "Shaking Hands with the Devil". A UN official quoted an American General that the life of one American is worth the life of 10,000 Africans. You seem to be in agreement with him.

How much money did Haiti send to help the victims and families of victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center that took place on September 11, 2001?

You do know that 50% of the people of haiti make under a dollar a day.

I have always seen you as a caring person. Your comments on this forum is both morally bankrupt and less then human. You seem to be in agreement with Rush Limbaugh in this area.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

Wannabe Yogi -
I am a caring person. My point, above all, is that we do not have the money to give. We are flushing our own economy further down the sewer system for others while our own people are starving. Why didn't Haiti just print up more money to pay for our aid? That's what we are going to do to pay for this.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Wannabe Yogi -
I am a caring person. My point, above all, is that we do not have the money to give. We are flushing our own economy further down the sewer system for others while our own people are starving. Why didn't Haiti just print up more money to pay for our aid? That's what we are going to do to pay for this.

do you know the tale of the widow's mite?

 

[enchanted_one1975]

do you know the tale of the widow's mite?

I believe that has already been brought up in this thread. The point still remains, that no matter how noble the cause, you cannot just keep printing money for everything that comes along! Our money is so watered down it barely looks green anymore yet we keep dumping more water in the vat as we scoop what we want out. Why do I feel like I am explaining to children that we can't buy that candy bar because I didn't get paid yet and that the kid just does not understand why money is needed to buy stuff?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Why do I feel like I am explaining to children that we can't buy that candy bar because I didn't get paid yet and that the kid just does not understand why money is needed to buy stuff?

I don't know. Maybe it's for the same reason I feel like I'm explaining to someone that yes, the line of credit you've got for emergencies can actually be used in a real emergency.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

I don't know. Maybe it's for the same reason I feel like I'm explaining to someone that yes, the line of credit you've got for emergencies can actually be used in a real emergency.

But we do not have a line of credit. We are just printing coupons up. Try putting water in your gas tank and see how far it gets you. Your problems will be worse than if you had just taken the bus.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

But we do not have a line of credit. We are just printing coupons up. Try putting water in your gas tank and see how far it gets you. Your problems will be worse than if you had just taken the bus.

I think you're operating under some fundamental misunderstandings of how government debt works. The government doesn't fund its spending by "printing more money" like you suggested earlier. When the government takes on debt, by and large it does it by issuing debt instruments like Treasury bills: contracts for government debt that pay interest and are transferable.

They're loans. Loans that are bought and sold on markets and have their own special rules, but they're still loans and in that regard they're no different from a personal line of credit or a mortgage.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

I think you're operating under some fundamental misunderstandings of how government debt works. The government doesn't fund its spending by "printing more money" like you suggested earlier. When the government takes on debt, by and large it does it by issuing debt instruments like Treasury bills: contracts for government debt that pay interest and are transferable.

They're loans. Loans that are bought and sold on markets and have their own special rules, but they're still loans and in that regard they're no different from a personal line of credit or a mortgage.

That's what they would like you to believe. If this was the case though, there would be the same amount of money circulating in this country that there was in 1776. There would never be any inflation, wages would not need to be increased, and the economy would remain stable. Our money used to say "The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand (insert number) dollars. That meant you could swap a bill for real money because each bill was represented by real money that the country had on reserve. That went away many decades ago.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Wannabe Yogi -
I am a caring person. My point, above all, is that we do not have the money to give.

If every person on this planet lived like an American, if they used resources like we do, it would take 6 earths to provide for that lifestyle. We are all rich we must help the poor. We can adjust we have the money.

We are flushing our own economy further down the sewer system for others while our own people are starving.

There are hungry people in America but no one is starving. I have been to the slums of bangladesh. You ether have no Ideal the look, the smell, the feel, of bone crushing poverty or you don't care about your fellow man.

Why didn't Haiti just print up more money to pay for our aid?

Do you want people who make less then 1$ a day to pay our way. Children are dying we can find a way to help.

 

[KatNotKathy]

That's what they would like you to believe. If this was the case though, there would be the same amount of money circulating in this country that there was in 1776. There would never be any inflation, wages would not need to be increased, and the economy would remain stable. Our money used to say "The United States of America will pay to the bearer on demand (insert number) dollars. That meant you could swap a bill for real money because each bill was represented by real money that the country had on reserve. That went away many decades ago.

What is "real money"?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

What I don't get is why America gives so much money, but never takes any. Germany was pardoned of war debts, and when foreign nations tried to give us money after which ever disaster it was (Katrina maybe, I don't remember), it was turned down.

What is "real money"?

I think he may be talking about the gold standard, in which you could swap bills for gold, until America went off the gold standard.

 

[KatNotKathy]

I think he may be talking about the gold standard, in which you could swap bills for gold, until America went off the gold standard.

If this is the case, what makes gold more valuable than banknotes? I mean, aside from looking pretty and being a good conductor of electricity (hell, my only gold is in my guitar wires and electronics), gold doesn't really do a whole lot. You can't eat it (and if you do, stay out of the sun unless you want to turn blue!), and we only really like it because it's rare and pretty.

 

[Ba'al]

So let's get this straight. The government spends 1 trillion a year on the military to mainly kill people and **** off the world and your worried about 100 million that will actually help people?

 

[Neo-Logic]

When a country has more debt than it does assets it is not rich.

False.

 

[kai]

Its a disaster those people need help any decent human being would help, i know i would and will make a donation.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

That's what they would like you to believe. If this was the case though, there would be the same amount of money circulating in this country that there was in 1776.

Arrgh. I didn't say that the government doesn't regulate the money supply; they do. What I'm saying is that they don't do this as a way to finance debt. You can tell, because if the government really did just print new money when it wanted to spend more, then the government would have no debt on its books.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Originally Posted by enchanted_one1975
When a country has more debt than it does assets it is not rich.

Economics 101....

USA has Potential.... potential for economic growth, resources, infrastructure, workers, exports, reputation etc etc