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The U.S. aid for Haiti is chump change
Most Americans (including those with advanced degrees) are ignorant and naive about big money. President Barack Obama's announcement of a pledge of $100 million to aid Haiti sounds like a lot, especially as it is in addition to the cost of military rescue operations.
To put this figure in perspective, the cost of a sports stadium in Pittsburgh is approximately $300 million. Three stadiums equal about $1 billion. This is money spent for the amusement of a small minority of people in Western Pennsylvania who happen to have some extra dollars to spend on tickets to games.
For a comparison, Israel is approximately the same population and land mass as Haiti, and its population is relatively prosperous. U.S. aid to Israel since the late 1970s has been $3 billion a year in economic and military aid and $2 billion to $3 billion in loan guarantees plus additional funds from the Department of Defense.
Multiple hurricanes, environmental degradation and now the earthquakes have left 2 to 3 million Haitians homeless and exposed to rain and intense sunlight.
Finally, we can contrast the compensation and benefits being paid to employees of the 23 largest financial institutions on Wall Street, responsible for the economic crash of 2008. Salaries, benefits, stock options and bonuses will total more than $140 billion. That compares with the approximately $140 billion in shortfalls suffered by our own 50 state government budgets, forcing layoffs, due to that same economic crash.
These stark figures illustrate who is in control of this nation, and why our charity to Haiti looks like very thin soup, indeed.
CARLANA RHOTEN
East Liberty
Solutions for Haiti
Regarding "Orphaned Haitian Children Arrive in Pittsburgh" (Jan. 20):
Pittsburgh, particularly Jamie and Ali McMutrie, has reached out to lend its hand to Haitian children left homeless as a result of the devastating earthquake.
While we're all touched by these generous acts, now is the time to look for meaningful, long-term solutions for beleaguered Haiti. The nation cannot be saved by adopting out a handful of children or granting temporary permanent residency to its nationals who are living illegally in the United States.
First Published January 23, 2010 12:00 am
