From this article at cnn.com, we have numerous members of the Bush administration getting their panties in a bunch over being described as just a bit miserly with their emergency aid. As the article points out, when it comes to percentage of GDP, the U.S. pretty well sucks in terms of generosity:
Most normal folks might be just a wee bit embarrassed by this revelation but, as we've all learned by now, this is an administration that knows no shame. Instead, USAID administrator Andrew Natsios simply ignores contributions based on the normal percentage of a country's GDP and, given the U.S.'s sizable GDP, should we be surprised when he prefers to just compare absolute dollar figures?
Measured another way, as a percentage of gross national product, the OECD's figures on development aid show that as of April, 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.
"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."
Apparently, then, it's not the portion of what you have to spare that counts, it's just the final absolute dollar figure. I'm sure that makes the Bushies feel all warm and fuzzy but, sadly, there's always some radical, left-wing, commie, pinko, tree-hugging, eco-freak, social justice fanatic who doesn't see things that way:
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,worth only a fraction of a penny.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.”
Man, that Jesus guy can be a real pain in the ass at times, can't he? Socialist freak.
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