[Peace-discuss] Why Does Senator Conrad Want to Humiliate President Obama at the G20 Summit?

[Robert Naiman]

The "One" campaign against global poverty reports:

   The Senate Budget Committee, chaired by Senator Kent Conrad, wants
to cut $4 billion from the president's International Affairs Budget -
the part of the budget funding almost all of our anti-poverty work.

This would be terrible policy any time.
...
But attacking the International Affairs budget this week is
particularly obscene. President Obama is leaving today for the G20
"Economic Crisis Summit" in London. The top agenda item is how to
counter the effects of the global economic crisis on countries that
don't have the capacity to create their own economic stimulus. Cutting
the President's international aid request this week will undercut
President Obama at the very moment he will be trying to argue for a
coordinated international response.
...
Four billion dollars is about 1/40th of the amount of money that would
be saved by implementing Rep Barney Frank's proposal to cut the U.S.
military budget by 25%. Or, put another way, cutting the U.S. military
budget by less than 1% would pay for restoring the President's
increase in international development assistance.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/why-does-senator-conrad-w_b_181294.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/31/715022/-Why-Does-Senator-Conrad-Want-to-Humiliate-Obama-at-the-G20-Summit

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41265

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Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org