Plum Crazy

The whole foreign aid thing is compleat non-sense. We run near the bottom of all developed nations in the giving of foreign aid as a % of GDP. If the US completely eliminated all foreign aid, means tested welfare and all NEA grants we would still be about 350 billion in the whole.

It's a lot of hand wringing over nothing. Makes for good stories though.

Not to mention that Target has reasonable prices, so that the individual, after shopping at target for the latest (insert basic un-needed consumer good) they should still have enough money to donate to whatever charity they prefer.

And that does not depend on the particular coporate policy towards any particular non-profit org.

As Hnumpha's piece pointed out, most of America's aid to Israel is not on paper--not easily deciphered ledgers anyway.

It comes in more than just outright grants. It comes in loan guarantees, forgiven loans, compensation for things that could be done in America more inexpensively and tax breaks for donations that must run into the $billions.

Total aid that can be reasonably accounted for is between $6-7 annually.

Now I haven't checked recently on the exact figure, but last I recall the entire budget for the state of Washington--a socialist utopia with 6 million people, more than Israel--was between $13-15 billion annually. I'm not sure how Federal grants work, if they are administrated via the legislature or donated directly to agencies such as those responsible for transportation and healthcare infrastructure. Some are undoubtedly given directly to private initiatives.

In any event I have a tough time believing that federal funding in this state equals 50% of our entire expenditures.

Furthermore even if it does, we do pay taxes and get a lot less back than what we pay in. Hell my sales tax isn't even deductible! Why should foreign contributions be?

I don't necessarly agree with all of the supposed facts and unsupposed sentiments expressed here, but it's seems reliable enough as a source (AIPAC and the Jewish Virtual Library are used in the piece).

From: http://www.alternativenews.org

MIFTAH
A) The nature of US foreign aid to Israel

A1. Constitutes 30% of the total US foreign aid budget, which renders Israel to be the largest recipient of US aid in the world

Since 1987, the US congress has annually been approving a foreign aid bill totaling an average of $3 billion to Israel, $1.2 billion in economical aid, and $1.8 billion in military aid.

After the gulf war in 1991, the US has additionally been offering Israel $2 billion annually in federal loan guarantees, which brings the total US foreign aid to Israel to about $5 billion, or $13.7 million per day. This amount excludes the approximate $1.5 billion in total tax-deductible private donations from numerous Jewish charities and individual donors.

All in all, this is the largest amount of foreign aid given to a country, and constitutes 30% of the total amount of US foreign aid budget.

A2. Started in 1948 and gradually increased over the years

Soon after the Truman decision in 1948 to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, the US Congress approved an aid package in the form of a $135 million Export-Import Bank loan in order to take in holocaust survivors and provide them with homes.

Until 1973, aid was mainly made up of military, economic and export-import bank loans, although annual economic grants ranging between $0.1 and $74 million were also offered between the years 1951 and 1962.

After the 1973 war, the US aid to Israel constituted largely of military and economic grants to help strengthen the Israeli defense forces. This included $12-80 million, which was annually granted towards the establishment of Jewish refugee camps.

This TABLE shows the history of US financial assistance to Israel, as documented by the Jewish Virtual Library. Notice the pattern of increased assistance over the years for economic, military and Jewish refugee grants, especially after 1973. This pattern reflects the US interests (section A3) in empowering Israel as the only democratic, close ally in the region, and not for the pure intent to assist a developing country.

A3. Promotes American interests in the Middle East

The US funding to Israel acts as the backbone for the strategic partnership between both countries. By advancing Israel's technological and military powers, the US is able to share intelligence information regarding Arab militant groups, like Hizbullah, as well as information regarding the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Three quarters of the military aid to Israel goes for importing US-made military equipment such as F-16 and Apache attack helicopters. This creates a job market for US citizens and transforms Palestine into a test ground for US made weaponry, used daily against Palestinians.

Israel has cooperated with the US arms industry to develop more effective military equipment at affordable costs to the US. About one quarter of the military aid to Israel is contributed towards military research and development, where several innovative jet fighters, missiles and navigating and targeting devices have been manufactured and sold back to the US. Examples are the ITALD, Litening, Popeye and the UAV.

A4. Proposed by Israel in 1998 to be reduced in an effort to establish an economically independent country

In 1998, according to an agreement with the Clinton Administration and Congress, Israel voluntarily requested to decrease its financial dependence on US economic aid by phasing it out over a period of 10 years.

The $1.2 billion in economic aid will be reduced by $120 million each year until it is down to zero in the year 2008. This will help Israel to become an economically independent country.

However, 50% of the savings (i.e. $60 million) each year will be added to an emergency military aid fund to Israel. This demonstrates the US's persistence and commitment to help Israel gain control of the region.

B) The controversy for US foreign aid to Israel

B1. Granted in disproportion to Israel's size and needs

Israel is an economically, technologically, and militarily advanced country, with a per capita rate of $14,000, which is higher that that of all neighboring Arab countries, including the oil-rich Saudi Arabia. It is ranked as the world's sixteenth wealthiest country, yet the US aid to Israel constitutes 30% of the total US foreign aid budget.

Israeli population is 5.8 million, which only constitutes one thousandth of the world's total population. Between the years 1949 and 1998, the US has provided a total of $84 billion in aid to Israel, which exceeds that given to all countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean combined, with a total population of about 1.054 billion people.

B2. Promotes the illegal occupation of Palestinian land in order to establish settlements for Jewish refugees

A portion of US foreign aid to Israel, which has increased in the past decade to $80 million annually, goes into building settlements for Jewish immigrants. This occurs by the illegal confiscation of Palestinian land and home demolition to allow for space. Jewish settlements surround every single Palestinian city in the West Bank, and their rapid construction since 1973 has prevented the creation of a feasible Palestinian State.

Jewish settlements are built on confiscated Palestinian land to accommodate Jewish immigrants from all over the world, based on the Israeli Law of Return. These immigrants are guaranteed the right to Israeli citizenship, free Hebrew learning, and immediate employment. On the other hand, Palestinian refugees who were forced to flee their homes in 1948 and 1967 are forbidden from returning to their towns of origin.

B3. Transforms Palestine into a military test ground

Seventy five percent of US military aid to Israel goes into purchasing US-made military equipment, such as tanks, machine guns, bullets, helicopter gunships, and more. The US depends on Israel to test new military technologies in war conditions. For example, uranium-depleted ammunition has been fired at civilians in Palestine.

B4. Violates US Law and abuses human rights

The Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of the United States, which provides guidelines for the eligibility of certain countries to purchase US-made weapons and military equipment, states in section 116 that "No assistance may be provided under this part to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights." However, Israeli army engages daily in degrading and inhumane treatments towards Palestinians, such as prolonged detention without charges, strip searches at checkpoints, beatings, torture, and home demolitions. According to Amnesty International, Israel is the only country that legalizes torture.

Similarly, section 4 of the Arms Export control Act prevents the US government from selling defense articles to countries that abuse their use for non-self-defense purposes. In 2001, the US State Department described the actions of Israeli army against Palestinians as an "excessive use of force," referring to the use of live ammunition when soldiers were not in a pending danger. This clearly shows that the US does not agree with the way these weapons are being used against Palestinians, yet the US military aid to Israel continues consistently as agreed between both countries.

SOURCES:
Al-Awda, http://al-awda.org/
Global Exchange, http://www.globalexchange.org/
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, http://www.aipac.org/
The Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/
The Palestine monitor, http://www.palestinemonitor.org/
USAID, http://www.usaid.gov/

Obviously that's $6-7 billion annually, and I would bet it's higher than that.

Tax breaks for donations? That is a completely bogus comparison. Jews get to donate their money to whatever charitable causes they see fit. We even get the same tax breaks afforded to any other U.S. citizen. You don't have to approve, but that is your problem. I bet I don't approve of some of your charitable causes either. Do I get to whine about the tax breaks you get for donating to causes I don't approve of? That is not U.S. aid to Israel. That is individuals giving their own money as they choose.

As for your disbelief about the amount of aid given to the state, wasn't the link I provided to the U.S. government report sufficient proof? You think the U.S. government is lying about it? Like I said, the fact that something sounds unreasonable doesn't necessarily make it untrue. Unreasonable things occur. If it sounds unreasonable, you just need to validate it for yourself. I did that.

Shit. I also meant "entire expenditures on the state level". Technically it should be clear since they are not "our expenditures" if the Feds are spending it...but the clarification might have been useful, some will undoubtedly misconstrue the point as me having suggested half the state budget is federal money, which I don't think it is.

You would bet? You lost your last one, so either provide some actual proof for your beliefs or admit you really don't know.

Yes I do think the Federal government lies about things, imagine that.

Yeah, so do I, just not stuff that's easily verifiable.

Funny I seem to recall winning our last bet :)

I thought I won the last bet between you two.

No, that was a totally different bet I made with someone else. The bet I lost to Jim was that Gray Davis wouldn't be recalled.

Gray Davis?
I don't recall a Gray Davis.

Actually, I agree with the original point; there are too many people out there taking too much of the stuff they find on the internet as literal truth without taking the time and effort to check it out, and too many people posting what they claim are facts without doing the research to back them up. It only took me a few minutes to find the information on the foreign aid to Israel; with a few more minutes, I probably could have dug up the information on federal aid to the states, so in, what, about ten minutes total I could have decided for sure whether to 'bet my life' on a statement I was about to post. The nformation is there, and it isn't that hard to dig up; I just wish more people would take the time to do so, instead of making up or passing on erroneous information.

I just received the email regarding Target this morning. It took me less than 5 minutes to find several articles concerning this email and the inaccuracies in it. Some people simply don't think for themselves anymore. They let others tell them what "the facts" are and never consider whether or not the source is reliable.

My commiserations. Every day I run across several of these logic-impaired people who will buy anything that shows up in their mailboxes, from camel spiders to ghost girls asking for rides to a prom. And that's just the beginning to a lifetime of credulity.

Critical thinking isn't taught in schools, and perhaps that's just fine for the government. It's a lot easier to bamboozle people that way.