US gives 50,000 dollars for quake-hit Italy

reply to post by Seekerof

At any rate, when was the last time Italy or anyone else gave anything for any natural disaster that happened over here in the U.S.? Yeah, I thought so. You all go ahead and "be ashamed," I will be awaiting that $50,000 check...

In one exchange, State Department officials anguished over whether to tell Italy that its shipments of medicine, gauze and other medical supplies spoiled in the elements for weeks after Katrina's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and were destroyed. "Tell them we blew it," one disgusted official wrote. But she hedged: "The flip side is just to dispose of it and not come clean. I could be persuaded."
/cs39un

[edit on 4/6/2009 by greeneyedleo]

I don't object to giving money to Italy. I object to our Government doing it. If we as Citizens want to help the Italian people, we should do it. The Government has no business spending our money anywhere but here. This includes sending aid to ANY country for whatever reason.

Charity -- not the Governments business.

reply to post by greeneyedleo



Hey, what can I say, making excuses for the Obama Administration backfired. I can not help that the Obama Administration is so cheap, especially to one of our supposed allies. Hell, Acorn got more.

I think there is a misprint here, $50,000 won't cover the cost of transport and logistics to move aid in.

from the state department

MR. WOOD: Okay. Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. Let me just start off with a couple of points on the earthquake in Italy.

Our understanding is that the epicenter was about 60 miles northeast of Rome in the region of Abruzzo. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of those killed in the earthquake. Our Embassy in Rome will provide 50,000 in emergency relief funding. The Government of Italy has said that no further assistance is required at present in the way of search-and-rescue assistance. The U.S. Embassy in Rome has been in contact with Italian authorities for constant updates on the situation and has reached out to Americans living in the affected region. At this time, there are no reports of American citizens among the dead or injured. That’s all I have for the moment.

www.state.gov...

I anticipate more money will be sent once this becomes a bigger issue. Whether it was planned to help Italy with more money will still be debatable.

reply to post by yellowcard

This is pretty low, I guess Italy got on Obama's bad side.

Looks like Italy has been low on the American totem pole for some time.

During her hearing at the Senate, Madame Secretary Hillary Clinton stated how the US would work closely with their European allies – the UK, France, Germany and the Eastern Europeans; Italy was noticeably absent. Does this mean Italy matters less than before in DC? No, but it is a sign that some retuning – on both sides – would be beneficial.

The American administration acknowledges the important role that Italy plays in many crucial areas of the world from Afghanistan to Lebanon and beyond. Yet, a sense of (polite) lack of consideration can be felt in the air, to the detriment of both parties. Why is that? What can be done to revitalize US-Italy relations?

www.brookings.edu...

reply to post by secretagent woooman


No, it is not a misprint. I googled it and it's the same all over the net - $50,000.

Let me see if I have this right, the US gov't has no problem giving the Palestineans 900 Million after their land/buldings were destroyed by weapons that we either gave/sold to Irael and they probably bought more stuff with the foriegn aid we give them. When it comes to helping Italy out all we give them is $50,000? So what happened to Obama repairing our image on the international scene?

I bet they said,
"Obama, You can keep your Change"
three lines.

Seems to be an element in the State Department intent on souring relations between the USA & its allies ... to Obama's maximum disadvantage ... first the UK, with an unnamed official declaring that UK is "just another country" & all the flummery about PM Brown's DVD gift, now this faux pas with Italy.

A very American coup in the making ? The establishment sure don't like Obama.

is that 50 grand before or after taxes?
because they will get less if it's before taxes,
You can't buy anything with that much

reply to post by xxpigxx


actually no.. Unless there are places you can buy 50 cent packs of cigarettes... More like 5 bucks where I live. 50 grand dispersed to 100,000 people is about 50 cents per person.

-ChriS

[edit on 6-4-2009 by BlasteR]

[edit on 6-4-2009 by BlasteR]

Those SOB's, I can not believe they would even do that.
Its laughing in their faces.

This has reached a breaking point.

we are broke, we had to give that 50k on loan...

I posted this in the main earthquake thread:

www.boingboing.net...

...yet another series of diplomatical blunders by Berlusconi. I.e. shouting in presence of H.M. the Queen of England, who had to reprimand him; Ignoring the assembled world leaders to have a friendly chat on his mobile phone while the International press was watching; Claiming credit for the success of yesterday's G20 meeting after a very embarassing performance before his "not-so-peers"; Accusing America as the only responsible of the Italian crisis and requesting Barack Obama to "sort out the mess you made in my country", and the list goes on and on...

www.ihatethemedia.com...

Then I came across this:

3. If Italy accepts their bailout money, will Obama have the power to remove Berlusconi?

It's all tongue in check and it would be hilarious if it wasn't all so tragic and coincidental.

I hope there is more to the story of the $50K.


[edit on 7/4/2009 by kosmicjack]

50,000$ is enough. No one is building a space ship.
It wasn't that serious.

Italy is a member of the EU and a developed western nation, they don't really need the money in the same way as many other countries would in this situation. With this in mind I read it as being just a nominal amount to express solidarity with the Italian people rather. They did also offer rescue teams and other experise and were told they weren't needed so this is probably just their way of saying 'We're on your side, we're here with you'.

Just the way I saw it.

the fact we really sent 50,000 seems like an insult

a lot of things involving this thread seem insulting

overall a very insulting situation

Originally posted by Seekerof
At any rate, when was the last time Italy or anyone else gave anything for any natural disaster that happened over here in the U.S.? Yeah, I thought so. You all go ahead and "be ashamed," I will be awaiting that $50,000 check...

C'mon Seeker, you brighter than that!

During Katrina, the US got help of loads of countries. As stated, Italy sent medical supplies it seems, whereas the UK for example sent ships, helicopters, supplies of various things, men on the ground, tents.... Need I go on?

Thing is, help from foreigners doesn't seem to get much airtime on US media networks. Seems it would be damaging to the national psyche if people knew America "accepted aid".... How sad...

If Italy were a third world nation then we would send more. The fact of the matter is that Italy can handle themselves. If anything they would need man power, maybe help with medical supplies. They have money to spend so that's not really they need.