To: "homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org" <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Renegging on promises to the poor
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 11:09:51 -0700
This act continues to degrade our former beneficent stature with the rest
of the world. The Bush administration is not "unable to honor" promises; it
is simply and crassly unwilling. We got ours, to hell with you. Merry
Christmas to all of you who deserve one.
U.S. Cutting Food Aid Aimed at Self-Sufficiency
By ELIZABETH BECKER
Published: December 22, 2004
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - In one of the first signs of the effects of the ever
tightening federal budget, in the past two months the Bush administration
has reduced its contributions to global food aid programs aimed at helping
millions of people climb out of poverty.
With the budget deficit growing and President Bush promising to reduce
spending, the administration has told representatives of several charities
that it was unable to honor some earlier promises and would have money to
pay for food only in emergency crises like that in Darfur, in western
Sudan. The cutbacks, estimated by some charities at up to $100 million,
come at a time when the number of hungry in the world is rising for the
first time in years and all food programs are being stretched.
As a result, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and other
charities have suspended or eliminated programs that were intended to help
the poor feed themselves through improvements in farming, education and health.
"We have between five and seven million people who have been affected by
these cuts," said Lisa Kuennen, a food aid expert at Catholic Relief
Services. "We had approval for all of these programs, often a year in
advance. We hired staff, signed agreements with governments and with local
partners, and now we have had to delay everything."