On the second point, I worked for a steel company that bid on international jobs. On one job in particular – for a Bolivian water treatment plant – we supplied most of the plate/precast and structural steel. American foreign aid gave them $40,000,000 to build the plant. Problem is that the plant cost about $250,000,000 all in. The Bolivians had no choice but use our companies and our materials and borrowed the additional money from IMF and USA at a high rate of interest. After the plant was opened, the Bolivian gov't charged the people a fortune for water and actually passed a law that made catching rain water illegal.

Both of these stories are actually the same. They both speak to the greed and corruption that we see in corporations and governments.

BTW braidbunch: Not a single nickel of “Foreign Aid” has ever been spent without a significant kickback for our favored corporate friends and/or our “interests” in a distant land. I worked for a large International Construction Company for many years and I can assure you, that your tax dollars did not go to feed hungry children, or build schools. The money ALWAYS went directly into the pockets of companies like my own. On the surface, it is played-up as a generous gift, but I have never encountered a single project that did not serve our needs before the needs of the recipient Nation.

Marcus W.

Vallejo, CA

We can spend billions in Iraq and Africa, but not help out our own country??? Why????????

We need to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac right away!!! The longer we wait, the worse it will get.

Come on congress, how about helping out your own people!!!

On the second point, I worked for a steel company that bid on international jobs. On one job in particular – for a Bolivian water treatment plant – we supplied most of the plate/precast and structural steel. American foreign aid gave them $40,000,000 to build the plant. Problem is that the plant cost about $250,000,000 all in. The Bolivians had no choice but use our companies and our materials and borrowed the additional money from IMF and USA at a high rate of interest. After the plant was opened, the Bolivian gov’t charged the people a fortune for water and actually passed a law that made catching rain water illegal.

Both of these stories are actually the same. They both speak to the greed and corruption that we see in corporations and governments.

BTW braidbunch: Not a single nickel of “Foreign Aid” has ever been spent without a significant kickback for our favored corporate friends and/or our “interests” in a distant land. I worked for a large International Construction Company for many years and I can assure you, that your tax dollars did not go to feed hungry children, or build schools. The money ALWAYS went directly into the pockets of companies like my own. On the surface, it is played-up as a generous gift, but I have never encountered a single project that did not serve our needs before the needs of the recipient Nation.

Marcus W.

Vallejo, CA

We can spend billions in Iraq and Africa, but not help out our own country??? Why????????

We need to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac right away!!! The longer we wait, the worse it will get.

Come on congress, how about helping out your own people!!!