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How Obama's Stimulus Driven Road To Recovery Affects Japan's Recovery

Friday, March 18, 2011

Disasters always call for charity. Whether it's a hurricane in Louisiana or Florida, fires in California, terrorist attacks in New York, or disasters in Haiti and Japan. Every time some form of a major tragedy strikes we are all called upon to assist in the relief efforts. While there has been much reaching out with aid to Japan due to the recent earthquake and tsunami there has been criticism to a point as how it's not as much as it should be. Not even matching the relief efforts in Haiti despite the fact that the devastation is far worse. I'd like to address that by tying together a few things.

We often hear about the road to recovery that we are supposedly on by this administration and it's supporters. We hear talk about this "jobless recovery" and the excuse that jobs are a lagging indicator that come later. The economy always affects charity on a personal level. If you feel confident and secure in the economy, if you have a stable job and are making enough money to have a decent amount of disposable income than you are more likely to give to charity. The lack of charity towards Japan as compared to disasters of recent years is telling not of what we think of the Japanese disasters scope but rather how we think about our own economy and personal security economically.

Our own families have to come first and there's nothing surprising about that. So many Americans have found themselves struggling to get by and provide for their own families that it is in many cases impossible to be very charitable. Maybe this will shine a light on the fact that we need more jobs and more confidence in order to be more charitable. No more talk about extended unemployment, denial of a failed stimulus, or a trillion dollar health care program that is guaranteed to worsen our health care system at a greater cost to each of us.

Many of us have been consistent in our refusal to support failed economic policies such as the Bush TARP bank bailouts, and the Bush and Obama failed stimulus spending policies but I'd like you to think about this.

Stimulus, Bush's was over $700 billion dollars and the TARP, (Troubled Asset Relief Program), bank bailout added to it made an easy trillion. Then we get Obama who passes his own stimulus, ($787 billion tied to an additional $410 billion earmark filled omnibus bill), that's over a trillion dollars again. Hundreds of billions to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac while doing little for the homeowners who pay their mortgages to those two government entities. Next comes the socialist health care program, that could be another trillion when all is said and done.

Auto maker bailouts, union bailouts, extended unemployment, and on and on and on. Our debt has now exploded to over $14 trillion dollars and increases to the tune of billions of dollars a day. Now, what does that have to do with the disaster in Japan?

Most of us are aware that stimulus only made things worse and did jack in terms of fixing the economy. Imagine if we hadn't spent all of that money and think of how much more money that would have given us for disaster relief in Japan. To date we've given I believe roughly $65 billion in aid to Japan......that's nothing. Look at the figures I provided you regarding all of the bailouts. $65 billion is a pathetic joke considering how much our government has been willing to waste, (oops I mean spend), on dismal failing Keynesian economic policies.

Our failing economic policies and wasteful government spending, as well as our high unemployment have caused us to be unable to assist with charitable donation as must as we usually do. I do, however, want to give you something to ponder. Taking the kids to a fast food restaurant can easily cost $30. Buying a new DVD movie is an easy $20. A new video game tends to run $60. Going to the movies, grabbing a coffee or muffin every day is a good $10 to $20 a week. How many of these things do you regularly do?

There are over 300 million people in this country. If a measly $10 per person were donated, (a family of 5 gives $50 for example), to the Red Cross for efforts in Japan, that would be an additional $3 billion dollars for relief. If you can give more, and many of us probably can, then we would generate a massive amount of money very quickly. Even if Obama doesn't realize how tough this economy is for many of us we do realize it. Hopefully everyone who reads this will think about it the next time they order a pizza or grab a coffee.

It's easy to criticize other people, especially the rich, about how they spend their money but perhaps it's time for each of us to take a quick look in the mirror and ask ourselves what we're doing to help other than running our mouths.

Even my own charitable donations have been scaled back in comparison to recent years yet I still sponsor a few feed the children kids, donate to the DAV (Disabled American Veterans), and the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). As well as give a little money to the church each week, (and the church is regularly helping shelter the homeless). I tell you this not to make myself look good, simply to prove a point that there are those on the left who would consider me evil and selfish because I'm a Conservative. Maybe instead of criticizing others it's time to look in that mirror and sincerely ask yourself:

What am I really doing to help others?


I hope I've got you thinking about that with this post.

2 comments:

CharlieB said...

I don't mind giving to a local charity, you can usually see your money at work but giving money on a large scale usually ends up in some ones pocket or bank account and not where it is actually needed. Dishonesty and greed is all around us, donations never seem to get where they are suppose to until after some ones pocket overflows. charlie

Brandon Edsall said...

I don't disagree with your concern. After 9/11 several false charities were started claiming to be funds to help the families etc. and millions of dollars were raised through them. There's always a risk with international aid as well. Anything that may involve the U.N.'s assistance is susceptible to a level of fraud. Oil for food is a good example. With internatioal aid you should first decide which groups you trust with the aid. I think it's a mistake to give nothing due to the fact that there is a rational fear that the funds won't reach those it's intended to help. There will always be risk but it's a risk that just has to be taken at times.

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