Tsunami relief: let’s add another zero

At first, the White House thought $15 million was all we could do. Next, they reacted to terms like stingy or miserly as if Bush was running for reelection – but at least the $15 million became $35 million. But the number of dead already is 40 times that of 9/11 and the number of people displaced is estimated to be 5 million. One UN official suggests the long-run costs of getting these nations back to a more normal state of affairs will top $100 billion.

So CNN is now reporting the White House has changed $35 million to $350 million. Maybe it should be $3500 million from the US government alone? It’s not time for blame games and semantics. It’s time for action, which will require massive aomounts of aid – NOW.