US gives 50,000 dollars for quake-hit Italy

Shouldn't the Vatican ( actually in Italy and in the Rome) be putting their hands in their pockets to help support the people , Oh no silly me, I shouldn't be saying that.
After all they ARE the richest corporation in the world and own most land . but of course they don't actually want to help people, just control them.

Amid all the emotional responses a piece of practical and reasoned logic seems to gone largely ignored. Yesterday morning when this was first announced on the news it was estimated at approx 18 people dead, its now nearer 180 (with hundreds more still to be accounted for), not throwing millions of dollars at anything until the situation is fully appreciated and some calm is restored is a sensible approach, the European union should be the first to help and then brothers and sisters further afield if they feel it necessary.

In my mind.

My thoughts are with the victims, their families and those people working round the clock to try and save any survivors.

berth

reply to post by Seekerof

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I'm with you, at least we gave. If we would have gave 5 million everyone would have been like wtf are we doing giving them money when we have none. ATS is full of a bunch of whiners.

We have something happen to us and people don't offer us aid or help usually. For all you that are ashamed maybe you should take a look at some of the tent cities and realize we have our own crisis and 50k buys lots of blankets and water for people.

50 grand from the USA government sounds about right to me. After all with our financial situation it would seem that anything over that would be an insult to the entire american people.

This 50 grand is only meant to be a token of good faith toward Italy. And to show that at the same time the USA respects that it can not give away millions of tax money away.

The point is, the private sector is supposed to donate money voluntarily. When the people donate privately it sends a message of what we stand for here in the US. Our freedom to make private donations to whomever we choose without it being controlled by the government.

When the international community looks at the numbers, they will see the US government donation of 50 thousand, then they will see what the US private citizens and companies donated without the governments hand. I am betting the private donations will be well past the 1 million mark.

We also got to ponder on another question... Will the Italians even want our money in the first place.. Did they ask for it? And if not would they even accept it?

Tsunami Aid, Who is giving what.

Here is a little example of past donations from private and government entities durring the recent tsunami disaster. The only country then who made more contributions in the private sector was Great Briton. Good for them.

reply to post by Gouki

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You ever tried to rebuild your home after an Earthquake demolished it?

In today's world $50,000 would maybe cover the roofing, landscaping and glass for a single house... MAYBE.

That's the dumbest thing I've read in this thread so far, and hey, this thread seems to be chock full of that sort of stuff.

Time to hit up the IMF. The US stands to contribute only $100 billion to the IMF if authorized by congress.

I'm sure more aid will flow quite rapidly to Italy as this event plays out. It always does.
I would like to know how much their European neighbors are contributing. The French will probably just send in loaves of bread.

International Response to Hurricane Katrina

No money would be better really than to give out 50,000 lol. I didn't care when Obama gave the British guy some DVDs, that was trivial. This is actually something worth being concerned about. I would have been embarrased if I was the guy annoucing the 50,000 dollars.

To help you remember, the US was offered a lot of support and cash after Katrina.



en.wikipedia.org...

Might as well give em a freaking PENNY!

Good question. As far as I know they did not ask for any help. And I really think Italy is capable to take care of this without any help. It's a dissaster but not as huge as the Tsunami was. Italy is a modern country, well prepared to respond to something like this.

Next time you are out to eat, give the waiter/waitress a tip of a nickle on a 50 dollar meal. At least if you didn't give anything, there could be a variety of reasons why you didn't give anything. But when you give a nickle, you knowingly gave the person next to nothing, and basically said "Here is what I think you and your time is worth.

Give or don't give, doesn't matter which way to most people, but don't give a dying person a peppermint and say "Hey, I'm trying to help this person!" because you aren't doing anything.

$50,000 probably represents the majority of actual cash "on hand" at the US Embassy. It probably has nothing to do with any international commitments between Italy and the US.

$50,000 - delivered immediately to the local authorities - can buy a lot of blankets, bottled water, hot food, and other sundries that people who suddenly find themselves homeless might need. It's a simple gesture of charity, people. Stop being so snippy about the amount of the donation. It makes you sound like obnoxious ingrates.

reply to post by jibeho

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" The French will probably just send in loaves of bread."

And wine, don't forget the wine! The cheese , maybe not... but wine...yum!

The dust hasn't settled, after shocks continue...

First response? Fifty grand ain't hay, consider it a down payment. The US will step up once the needs have been assessed. If the government doesn't, the grand citizenry will...IMO.

reply to post by jibeho

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BBC have just interviewed some French rescuers in Abruzzo.

They're fireman. They gave up their annual leave entitlements, drove to Italy in a firetruck and are currently digging out survivors / bodies with the help of their rescue dog.

Rather a more useful contribution than a loaf of bread or $50,000.

We can make the same response we made to the tsunami and park a carrier off the coast if that would please the masses. As it's been said, Italy is a modern country, let them take care of it. The EU is really tight so they should help out too.

reply to post by The Lass

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The citizens are far better than their govt. I am glad to see the fire brigade coming to help.

In my neck of the woods Tornadoes do a lot of damage every year and the locals from neighboring towns are always the first to respond with assistance in every form.

Politics aside, why even bother saying something like that.

It would have been better to just offer condolences rather than give money, especially with such a paltry amount.

The US gives billions in aid to Africa and Asia, so why not to Italy? I'm not saying monetary aid is necessary- but why not send over a team of geological experts or disaster relief specialists instead.

reply to post by DataWraith

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Regarding your Vatican should be a making donation comment:

Catholic Relief Services are always in the for-front of disaster relief.

Area groups to help earthquake victims

www.newstimes.com...


crs.org...
en.wikipedia.org...





[edit on 4/7/2009 by sad_eyed_lady]

Obama gave Italy less than what it costs to operate Air Force One per hour. Ironic, considering their current penchent for gallivanting the globe or taking 110 mile trips in it. That is soooo cool, even Obama has thought so.

[edit on 7-4-2009 by Seekerof]