U.S. Military gets 40 cents of each U.S. aid dollar to Haiti
Of each U.S. taxpayer dollar, 40 cents is going to the U.S. military, paying for security, search and rescue teams, and the Navy’s hospital ship USNS Comfort.
Less than two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has tripled to $317 million at latest count. (That’s just over $1 each from each person in the United States.)
“We are trying to respond as quickly as we can to this catastrophe of biblical proportions by mustering all of the resources that the United States government can bring to bear, first on rescue leading into relief, which is where we are right now, and hopefully seamlessly into recovery,” said Lewis Lucke, U.S. special coordinator for relief and reconstruction.
Initial disaster spending was aimed at saving lives; now the spending is shifting to recovery. The Obama administration wants to put about 1.5 cents of each dollar directly into Haitian quake survivors’ hands by paying them to work. One program already in place describes paying 40,000 Haitians $3 per day for 20 days to clean up around hospitals and dig latrines. That project also includes renting 10 excavators and loaders, at $600 each, and 10 dump trucks at $50 a load.
