CARTER BASHES AMERICA AGAIN

"REUTERS" (hat tip WES ROTH):

"Unfortunately, in the rich countries like ours, we really don't give a damn," said Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981 and who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He especially criticized the United States for failing to follow other Western nations which are increasing spending. Although America tops the foreign aid donor list in dollar terms, it falls behind the Netherlands, Canada and many other smaller, less affluent nations when contributions are measured on a per capita basis. U.S. foreign aid is approximately 0.18 percent of gross national product, the lowest of any G-7 nation and far below a 0.7 percent United Nations target that 22 of the world's developed nations have agreed to meet by 2015. A handful have met the goal, while others such as Germany and Great Britain insist they will achieve it.

This facile Leftist anti-American critique of US aid spending has been debunked MANY TIMES, including by the bureaucrat who runs USAID, Andrew Natsios.

Leftie Carter overlooks MANY facts, including:

(1) Total USG spending on HIV/AIDS exceeds that of all other donors and developing countries combined.

(2) Relief and aid dollar counts NEVER include the contribution of the US armed forces - such as their INVALUABLE service after the recent Tsunami, and the fact that the US armed forces protect the entire free world - allowing Europe to spend next to nothing on defense and spend more on aid, and thus making that aid a bigger percentage of their overall budget. The US armed forces spent $35 MILLION just moving naval assets to the tsunami area. This is NOT counted either.

(3) Foreign assistance for development and emergency relief rose from $10 billion in "liberal saint" President Clinton’s last year to $24 billion under "unilateralist neocon" President Bush in 2003. THAT'S RIGHT: BUSH MORE THAN DOUBLED IT!

(4) The United States spent almost $15.8 billion for “official development assistance” to developing countries in 2003. Next closest was Japan, at $8.9 billion. That doesn’t include billions more the United States spends in other areas, such as AIDS and HIV programs and other U.N. assistance.

(5) Natsios [USAID director] said the Paris organization's figures [used by Carter] overlook a key factor - the billions more Americans give each year in private donations. Americans gave an estimated $241 billion last year to charitable causes - domestic and foreign - according to a study by Giving USA Foundation. That's up from $234 billion in 2002. The foundation did not break down how much was for domestic causes and how much for foreign. "That's a European standard, this percentage that's used," Natsios said. "The United States, for 40 years, has never accepted these standards that it should be based on the gross national product. We base it on the actual dollars that we spent." "The reason is that our gross national product is so enormous. And our growth rates are so much higher than the other wealthy nations."

(6) As a percentage of gross national product, the OECD's figures on development aid show that as of April [2004], none of the world's richest countries donated even 1 percent of its gross national product. Norway was highest, at 0.92 percent; the United States was last, at 0.14 percent.

Facts from HERE and HERE and HERE.

I'd spit on Carter's grave - only it'd be a waste of spit. So when the time comes: I'll piss on it.

UPDATE: welcome BETSY'S PAGE readers. Have a look around; I have a few other fresh posts.