10 Million Children Will Die While Wall Street Perpetrators, Profiteers Get Bail Out

As our Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, and U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson propose three, very expensive ($700 billion), non-reviewable - "may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency," - pages of legislation, in an ongoing effort to bail out Wall Street perpetrators and profiteers from the financial crisis they've created, at the expense of Main Street, raising the government's debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion, our country, along with Japan and other European countries are reneging on their pledges to "bail out" ten million children from starving to death.

The UN has already warned that traditional donors, including the US, Japan and some European Union members, have reneged on aid pledges, creating a funding gap of more than $30bn.

In his final U.N. address, President Bush made no mention of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to Jeffrey Sachs, who said that 10 million children will die if they do not receive the pledges, on CNN this morning.

Mr. Sachs told a UN panel that $72bn a year (from international community),

"...is not an outlandish price tag. The US Congress is about to vote $1 trillion for Wall Street this week..."

Some may rationalize that it's OK to abandon our pledges to other countries because we must take care of our own before we can reach out to others. However, the amount the U.S. pledged this year is infinitesimally small compared to the amount pledged to bail out Wall Street, especially when what will end up being a $trillion bail-out, may, in the end, put us (future generations) in the position of desperately needing a bail-out. Karma, anyone? Except, it will not be us...it will be our grandchildren and great grand-children who will pay the price.

If President Bush is so concerned with international terrorism, why does he continue to ignore the conditions (extreme poverty and violence) that breed terrorists? Between the escalating cost of food and decline of funding, the already impoverished areas around the world will plunge precipitously into hopeless despair.

"There is no doubt that the maintenance of peace and security is almost impossible in an environment deprived of the minimum of decent living conditions. Poverty and destitution beget tensions that eventually lead to breach of international peace and security." Dr Khaled Al Attiyah, Minister of State for International Cooperation,

Although, it's true we cannot save the world, that doesn't mean we should exacerbate what is already a devastating situation for so many global citizens, and when we inevitably increase the severity - reckless policy, war, our own brand of terrorism etc. - of the problems these people face...problems we couldn't imagine in our worst nightmares, we should recognize and take responsibility for our "contribution". Not only is it our moral duty as the most powerful nation in the world, it is our only option if we wish to hold onto that global title.