What a horrible tragedy the earthquake in Haiti was. Shots of toppled buildings and crushed vehicles, photos of dead, naked, dust-covered children—no older than my own—piled like Holocaust victims into the backs of pick-up trucks, are images that have haunted my mind for the past two days. My wife and I are planning to do our small part by means of financial donation; anyone who can help should most definitely do whatever they can.
Which brings me to an interesting bit of info that I’ve learned yesterday, while catching up on podcasts from Wednesday (the 13th).
First, Rush played the public statement about the earthquake made by President Hope&Change, who said in part:
Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I would encourage those Americans who want to support the urgent humanitarian efforts to go to WhiteHouse.gov where you can learn how to contribute. …
When I heard Obama announce that, the first thing I thought was: Uh-uuhhh. I’m not donating one red cent to anything-dot-gov. Why, just so some unaccountable bureaucrats—on both sides of the Caribbean—can steal it and have it do absolutely nothing for these poor Haitians?
When I donate to Haiti, it’s going to be through some private or religious organization. Some organization that doesn’t skim 60-65-70% off the top for “administrative costs” and overhead. Which means no one whose website ends in dot-gov, or many of the places recommended by such sites. They’ve already warned us on the news about criminals already trying to rip off well-meaning people with scam donation sites. I consider anything even indirectly related to this Obama administration as one of those scams.
A caller had the same thought I did. He asked, If I want to donate money to the Red Cross, why do I need to go to the WhiteHouse.gov page?
Exactly right. But then I heard El Rushbo say something that sounded even to me—an avid fan—a bit insensitive. During the conversation he told this caller:
Besides, we’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the US income tax.
I admit I had no idea what Rush was talking about. But whatever he meant, I immediately thought: Oh boy, the lib sites are going to have a field day with this one. And I was right: The Huffington Post wrote up a scathing piece which said “Limbaugh also seems to feel we’ve done enough already for Haiti.” This lie was subsequently addressed on yesterday’s show. A caller mentioned the Huffington Post piece accusing Rush of telling listeners not to donate because we already do through taxes and Rush had to clarify:
[W]hat you just said is a lie. They reported a lie. I did not discourage donations to Haiti. … I mean, you call here and ask, “Where do I get off suggesting that we don’t donate to Haiti because we do in the income tax?” and I tell you I said that, but I also said private donations are going to be much better than a government donation. …
Go to the Red Cross, do other things; don’t go through the government. It’s just going to go through hands and bureaucracies and a dollar is going to end up being 30 cents by the time they get through with it. I did not say, “Don’t make donations.”
This explanation is needed only for libs who believed the meme that Rush was a callous rich cigar-smoking white guy who didn’t care about the plight of the Haitians (indeed, the picture of Rush used on the HuffPo page is the one of him smoking a really big cigar looking callous, rich, and white.)
But what of this “taxes” statement Rush made? The HuffPo didn’t buy it, and accused him of “promot[ing] a conspiracy theory that finding these charities via the White House website puts your money at risk of not reaching Haitians.”
Thankfully, a thorough explanation was provided by Jim Geraghty at National Review online:
Unsurprisingly, Rush Is Right.
Obviously, when people are struggling to crawl out from rubble and with meager medical systems stretched to the breaking point, you’ve got to mobilize. But on the facts, Rush is right.
The tale of U.S. foreign aid to Haiti is maddening, as well-meaning Americans dump more and more money to alleviate suffering, only to see little or no actual improvement in the living conditions on the ground.
Since 1973, the United States has been the world’s largest foreign-aid donor to Haiti, which ranks among the world’s poorest countries.
From 1990 to 2005, the U.S. sent $1.46 billion to Haiti in aid from development assistance and children’s health through the Economic Support Fund, the U.S. food program, the Peace Corps, and foreign military training (although that was only $4.6 million, with $3 million coming in 1995).
More recently, In May 2008, the Bush administration announced that it would send an additional $25 million in emergency food aid to Haiti, bringing its total emergency contribution to $45 million . . . Congress provided $100 million for hurricane relief and reconstruction assistance for Haiti and other Caribbean countries in the FY 2009 continuing appropriations resolution, signed September 2008. Haiti received an estimated $287 million in regular appropriations for FY 2009.
So why isn’t all of this aid having an impact? Here’s how Reuters gently put it:
A combination of factors has made it difficult to distribute aid effectively to Haiti, including poor governance, political turmoil and widespread corruption. Haiti’s political system is unstable and plagued with infighting. Since 2004, a 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force has been on the ground. Haiti is the third most corrupt country in the world, according to corruption watchdog Transparency International, compounding the difficulties agencies face in delivering aid in an accountable and transparent way. Power lies in the hands of a few elite, leaving ministries unable to implement policies and divert funds to the local level. Haiti’s civil service is poorly trained and lacks the expertise to manage aid.Should people give to charities to help the Haitians? Of course. But if the past is any precedent, a lot of today’s donations will end up in the wrong pockets in the not-too-distant future.
In other words, Rush’s “conspiracy theory” is anything but. Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have already been squandered and mismanaged through two government bureaucracies on their way to the Haitian people. Despite America’s particlar generosity, Haiti is still one of the world’s most destitute countries. It’s not that way from lack of funs; it’s because the country is run by corrupt, power-hungry, socialist-communist thugs!
In other words, Haiti is run the way Obama would like to run the United States: Everybody is equally poor, destitute, and fully dependent on the government. The only exception is the government itself, which is comprised of a tiny circle of elitist socialist-communist central-planners who siphon wealth from their citizenry and from international donors in order to line their own pockets and amass more and more control.
Maybe HuffPo is going to correct their article and apologize to Rush
And maybe pigs will fly out of my skinny white butt.
UPDATE 1/15/10 1:50 PM: I just came across this AP article—yes, AP—that gives the false Huffington Post version of the Rush–Haiti story!
Gibbs: Limbaugh’s Haiti comments ‘really stupid’
Jan 14 03:28 PM US/EasternWASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is firing back at Rush Limbaugh after the conservative talk radio host urged people not to donate torelief efforts in Haiti.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs says there are always people who say “really stupid things” during a crisis. He says it’s sad that Limbaugh would use the power of his pulpit to convince people not to assist those in need.
Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday that he wouldn’t trust that money donated to Haiti through the White House Web site would actually go to the relief efforts. He said Americans don't need to contribute to earthquake relief because they already donate to Haiti through their income taxes.
What is wrong with these people at AP? Don't they bother to report the facts anymore, or do they just parrot what they get from HuffPo and the Obama White House?
Notice that when Rush made his clarification during the 2-o’clock-hour of his Jan. 14 show, which means before AP published its smear story at 3:28 PM.
AP failed to mention that Rush was right about the income tax thing. The U.S. has spent billions in humanitarian aid to Haiti for decades. It's worked real wonders for them, don’tcha think?
No wonder people are starting to call them the Dinosaur Media. Their "news" service is useless.
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