March 6, 2014 Via: Los Angeles News By Paul Whitefield Congratulations, Ukraine, you just won the lottery! Though, on this side of the world, it looks like we just gave $1 billion in aid to a country most Americans couldn’t find on a map. Secretary of State John F. Kerry stopped off in Kiev on Tuesday, praising “these brave Ukrainians” who stood up to President Viktor Yanukovich, the deposed leader. Apparently, though, the “brave Ukrainians” are also the “broke Ukrainians.” As my colleague Carol J. Williams reported: “Kerry announced a $1-billion U.S. aid package to Ukraine and said the International Monetary Fund was working out details of a longer-term plan for rescuing the deeply indebted economy. “Russia on Tuesday turned up the economic pressure on its cash-strapped neighbor: The Gazprom energy giant announced it was canceling the 30% discount it had been offering Kiev on gas imports because it is owed more than $1.5 billion on previously delivered shipments.” Now, I’m no math wizard, but if we’re giving Ukraine $1 billion, and it owes $1.5 billion just to Russia’s Gazprom, that’s, hmm, lemme see, 1.5 minus 1, uh, don’t carry the 1, uh: Yep, still broke. Or, as they say in Kiev: Please, sir, I want some more. I don’t want to sound naive, but tell me again why are we fighting the Russians over this place? Because it’s starting to feel a little like one of those family fights over who gets to take care of the black sheep brother-in-law with the gambling problem. Last week it was $460 million to Uganda so it could persecute gay people. Now it’s $1 billion to Ukraine — just to prove to Vladimir Putin that we’re no pushovers. So unless Ukraine is sitting on massive deposits of, say, oil, gas, diamonds, gold or the Fountain of Youth — well, let’s just say this doesn’t seem like as good an idea as bailing out General Motors. Which at least saved American jobs. Continue Reading Via: Los Angeles News ===================================================== COMMENT Forget the source. Single out for us any allegation stated above and if you believe it to be false or incorrect, tell us why. SHOCKLEY
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 00:35:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015