Wow that's the stupidest rule I've ever seen. This rule allows one person to hold up this money that could help people...I'm not even mad at the guy I'm pissed that this rule is allowed to exist.

I would think a medical doctor would know more about fiscal responsibility than a comedian who doesn't even write his own lines.

Anyone with any sense knows that foreign aid gets squandered by potentates, tribal leaders, etc.

Amazing that we have even one senator who cares how taxpayer money is spent. It is not the government's money to spend, it came from the taxpayer.

>> ^lantern53:

I would think a medical doctor would know more about fiscal responsibility than a comedian who doesn't even write his own lines.
Anyone with any sense knows that foreign aid gets squandered by potentates, tribal leaders, etc.
Amazing that we have even one senator who cares how taxpayer money is spent. It is not the government's money to spend, it came from the taxpayer.


We're sending them a Billion dollars. 5 million gets wasted you think the other 995 million helping people is just stupid? Seriously people are dying and you're just completely uncaring about that. Probably because it's been driven out of you.

See people aren't naturally this way...it has to be drilled into them to not care about other human beings and it takes a lot.

It doesn't help anyone when money is taken by every bureaucrat along the line. It is far more likely that the majority of the money will be siphoned off if no controls are put into place.

We are currently in debt, see this:

www.usdebtclock.org

We don't have money to waste.

Oh good, more Leibowitz bigotry.

See people aren't naturally this way...it has to be drilled into them to not care about other human beings and it takes a lot.

People have a right not to care about everyone, and to care about one group or cause more than another. Sending money to Haiti is one step removed from simply tossing it in a lit furnace. There is no infrastructure and no legitimate government there. Besides, these countries don't need any more imperialist American dollars.

But hey, if you feel that strongly about this, waltz down to your local unemployment office (always crowded thanks to obamanomics!) and explain to them why a billion dollars of their tax monies should go towards making zero difference in the Toilet of the Western Hemisphere.

QM, only you could make "helping people" sound like something only a mentally retarded, serial killer would want to do.

SOMEONE has to be an adult who understands there are finite resources to address infinite suffering.

If I put a gun to your head to make you "volunteer" to help others, or take your wallet for the same purpose, how is that anything but wrong?

This is a hard lesson for liberals, but in life there are no solutions, only trade-offs. Stop taxing to death the 50% of Americans that actually pay taxes. A billion dollars in the hands of the people who earned it goes a lot farther than urinating it away.

>> ^quantumushroom:

SOMEONE has to be an adult who understands there are finite resources to address infinite suffering.

Agreed, so why are you advocating having more of our finite resources diverted away from alleviating suffering?

>> ^quantumushroom:
If I put a gun to your head to make you "volunteer" to help others, or take your wallet for the same purpose, how is that anything but wrong?

Easy, if you want to be a citizen of this country, you agree to a social contract, part of which means paying your taxes. There isn't a clause in the contract that says every dime of taxes you pay has to be returned to you individually via goods and services. In fact, there's a lot of talk in there about "general welfare".

>> ^quantumushroom:
This is a hard lesson for liberals, but in life there are no solutions, only trade-offs..


Actually, all liberals would agree with that. We think it's an awesome trade off if we eliminate the payroll tax cap, in order to make sure people of all incomes keep getting social security. We also think it's a good trade off to raise taxes on the wealthy to keep food stamps going to those who need them (and if you have ideas to improve the way in which we ensure only the needy get them, we're all ears!).

It's conservatives who think the universal solution to everything is tax cuts and deregulation. Education? Fully privatize it and cut taxes, and it'll get better in every way imaginable. Health care crisis? Cut taxes, deregulate the insurance companies, and eliminate Medicare and it'll fix itself. Global warming? Not real, but even if it is real, cut taxes, deregulate, and the free market will take care of it. Racism? Well, just uphold everyone's right to discriminate in the work place, and it'll go away on its own. Unemployment? Just eliminate unemployment benefits and the minimum wage, and we'll have full employment. Povety? Not my problem.