No Suprise Here: US Making money off of Tsunami Tragedy

[Sannum]

The American government doing what they do best--taking advantage of those in need.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/tsunami.diver/

<snip>

Faye Wachs said she was impressed by the efforts of the Thai government and the International Committee for the Red Cross, but "she was appalled at the treatment they got" from the U.S. government, her mother said.

At the airport in Bangkok, other governments had set up booths to greet nationals who had been affected and to help repatriate them, she said.

That was not the case with the U.S. government, Wachs told her mother. It took the couple three hours, she said, to find the officials from the American consulate, who were in the VIP lounge.

Because they had lost all their possessions, including their documentation, they had to have new passports issued. But the U.S. officials demanded payment to take the passport pictures, Helen Wachs said.

<snip>

[BayCityProgressive]

surprise.

[Bluebear]

7. bump

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

1. Hey - funding a neocon agenda is expensive

and hard werk too!

[da_chimperor]

2. They have to pay off the deficit somehow

next week, bake sales and lemonade stands on Pennsylvania avenue. :eyes:

[nascarblue]

3. Ir figures...

Even on Scarborough Country they spent the 1st 20 minutes bashing the UN for criticizing the Bush administrations being so slow to react and for being cheap. They talked trash on the UN and didnt even bother with the actual story. These repugs just have no class. They make trillions on their bogus "war on terror" and they can't even cough up any dough. The reporters on CNN that were at the locations said that the US aid isn't even there yet.

[NYC]

4. So far, the aid is far less than the cost of the inauguration.

[Bluebear]

5. And in the form of a "line of credit", not outright aid

[NYC]

6. I can't believe the "line of credit".

I'm waiting for them to back down or backtrack on that.

$40 million for the king's inauguration. Time to announce that people should spend their money to help earthquake victims, and not buy tickets to the ball.