What's another $800 millies?

[Outonowhere]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/13/us-usa-budget-foreign-idUSTRE81C1C920120213

(Reuters) - The White House announced plans on Monday to help "Arab Spring" countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt.

In his annual budget message to Congress, President Barack Obama asked that military aid to Egypt be kept at the level of recent years -- $1.3 billion -- despite a crisis triggered by an Egyptian probe targeting American democracy activists.

The proposals are part of Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2013, which begins October 1. His requests need the approval of Congress, where some lawmakers want to cut overseas spending to address U.S. budget shortfalls and are particularly angry at Egypt.

Obama proposed $51.6 billion in funding for the U.S. State Department and foreign aid overall, when $8.2 billion in assistance to war zones is included. The "core budget" for the category would increase by 1.6 percent, officials said.

Most of the economic aid for the Arab Spring countries -- $770 million -- would go to establish a new "Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund," the president said in his budget plan.

Analysts said it was difficult to tell how much of the proposal was actually new money.

"As presented it's very difficult to determine if the Arab spring fund is new wine in new bottles or old wine in new bottles," said John Norris, a former U.S. foreign aid worker now at the Center for American Progress.

The Middle East and North Africa Incentive fund "will provide incentives for long-term economic, political, and trade reforms to countries in transition -- and to countries prepared to make reforms proactively," the White House budget document said.

The proposal said this approach "expands our bilateral economic support in countries such as Tunisia and Yemen, where transitions are already underway."

It would also build on other programs for the area, including up to $2 billion in regional Overseas Private Investment Corporation financing, up to $1 billion in debt swaps for Egypt, and approximately $500 million in existing funds re-allocated to respond to the region last year, the budget document said.

It did not say how the Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund would be divided between countries, or give any other details of the plan.

Egypt has long been among the top recipients of U.S. aid, getting about $1.6 billion annually, mostly in military assistance. In fiscal 2012, $250 million of aid approved for Egypt was economic; $1.3 billion was military and there was a $60 million "enterprise fund" approved by Congress.

No U.S. assistance is moving to Egypt at the moment, U.S. lawmakers and their aides said last week. Some legislators favor cutting off aid to Egypt entirely if it does not drop accusations against American democracy activists and lift a travel ban on them.

Obama continued the practice of putting proposed foreign assistance for war zones in a separate account. This account, known as the "Overseas Contingency Operations," includes $8.2 billion for the State Department and foreign aid.

It includes $3.3 billion for Afghanistan, $1 billion for Pakistan, and $4 billion for Iraq, where U.S. troops have left the country but the State Department has picked up some of their functions such as police training.

[EJR914]

Those 800 mils start to add up after a while.

[leadpersuasion]

Its absolutely going to be a clusterfuck whenever this country takes a dump economically and not only we, but the rest of the world collapses! I can't fucking wait for the day to come when it all stops and only those who got their head outta their ass and did something for themselves and their families will be left. I can't wait for the day all those fucking, sorry shitheads sucking all the welfare out of my back pocket beat and murder each other in the street. I can't wait for when all the WIC cards and GRAFFA run out and these lazy mother fuckers who don't and have never worked a day in their life have their kids screaming at the top of their lungs cause they ain't got no food and are homeless! And all the other dumbasses that thought voting for Obama because he was black was a good damn idea!

Sorry for the rant..........I feel better. I really don't want to see all that suffering but I am fucking fed up like most of you are and am quite ready for a national flushing of the shitter. Maybe we can start again, but no matter what happens, a flushing is in order.

[sledge]

I understand leadpersuasion's sentiments. 

I would much rather let them fend for themselves.  They don't look much like friends.

Sooner or later this lunacy will end.   

[WhiskeyJack]

Um well you guys let em fend for them selves. I'm looking for ways to push em over the damn cliff! You know ounce of prevention kinda thing. You just know that to thank us they gonna kill a bunch of Americans with some of that economic support we were so generouse with.

[WhiskeyJack]

And dont you be sry for anything Lead.... I cant wait to watch parts of providence eat itself. This is how i see it.... Welfadites eat the sry ass liberals who gave them all the free shit. why them? they got no guns. Then welfadites eat eachother for a while. Then me and my guys shoot the leftovers and fertalize gardens, feed the dogs and pigs then go fishing...... Whadya think do i have a movie script or what?     

[JohnyMac]

I agree with all of your sentiments. Someone has to hit the reset button.

With that said, all of us are going to have to rise up and fight because there is a whole host of other folks who want the same thing but what they want is 180 deg. different then what we want.

How's that for a run-on sentence. 

Think back to when Chang Kai Shek fought Mao. Think back to when the White Russans fought the Red Russians. Think back to the People's Republic of the Kampuchea fought the Khmer Rouge. Need i go on? 

In other words we can not ever capitulate!

[sledge]

I agree with all of your sentiments. Someone has to hit the reset button.

With that said, all of us are going to have to rise up and fight because there is a whole host of other folks who want the same thing but what they want is 180 deg. different then what we want.

How's that for a run-on sentence. 

Think back to when Chang Kai Shek fought Mao. Think back to when the White Russans fought the Red Russians. Think back to the People's Republic of the Kampuchea fought the Khmer Rouge. Need i go on? 

In other words we can not ever capitulate!

Hmmm.  Some of us are from down south.  Who the hell were all those people doing all of that fighting?  Must be a rowdy bunch.  And capitulate?  Is that something you do when you're making a Cappuccino or something?  If so, I think I may have already capitulated a few times.   



LOL!  I get so amused at myself sometimes.  Oh man. 

[JohnyMac]

Huh?

[sledge]

Huh?

 LOL!  LOL!  LOL!  I was playing JM.  I'm in kind of a silly mood.

[JohnyMac]

It ain't February 14th yet! 

My point is we can all want to hit the reset button however we will not return to the origional US Constitution. Based on past history the BEST we can do is a draw.

The other side has the indurance to put up with & give a lot. Before we should want a reset we need to understand what we have in store. A lot of blood.