Obama and Haiti: Our fearless leader has no clue so he asks Bush to help !!

We begin with this update: CNN is reporting the private sector collection of $220 million dollars, funds that will be in the hands of those who will administer the funding within two weeks. Obama offering may ever get there.

Again, Obama has acted without a plan. He has decided to give $100 million to Haiti and in that gift has compared himself and his administration to Bush's response to the Katrina disaster. In the midst of one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies in world history, Barack Obama decided to politicize his contribution. What goes on in the mind of a man who invents opportunity to denigrate President Bush on a daily basis and, then, ask Bush to help in the oversight of the Haitian relief effort is beyond me. What is even more amazing is the silence surrounding President Bush's response to Mr. Obama's constant criticism. In all this, the man who has acted as a statesman is the one who is no longer in political office.

When asked about aid versus purposeful effort, instead of defending himself or criticizing Obama, Bush made this very timely comment:

"But I think it's a legitimate question. You know, do we want to put money into a society that hasn't benefited after we've stabilized?" Bush said. "The answer is I think we do, just so long as we work with the government to develop a strategy that makes sense. To say the country can't succeed is too defeatist as far as I'm concerned."

He is right, you know. His manner of conduct and the evolving success of the Iraqi war effort coupled with all that he did to keep us safe at home has contributed has brought his approval numbers to 44%, up from a 26% low at the time he left office.

It is not enough to simply make-up a number, i.e. "100 million dollars," and think that a problem has been solved. After a full year of Obama, we are fully aware that we do not even know if the $100 million will actually be given to Haiti. First, Obama has no idea where the money will come. Will he borrow it from Red China or Brazil or Japan? Secondly, there is no oversight for this expenditure. Finally, there are no specific plans for putting the money to good use. Sadly, it is not enough to simply allocate the funds and give it to the Haitian government. Since the early 1990's, these United States has given 3 billion in federal aid and billions more in private funding and volunteer assistance. Great immediate good has been done, of course, but, in terms of long ranging accomplishment, there has been no measurable success. What Obama has in mind to change this continuum is not known -- either to us or [probably] to himself !!

Let's hope that he more in mind that simply scoring points and bashing Bush.
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