Bono & The Hug Dodge

Bono says 'That's mad, that is mad." regarding potential Wall Street bailout, and finding $$$ to save 25,000 who die every day in the world

The first day of the 3-day Clinton Global Initiative was tonight. I heard that John McCain was supposed to speak there, but this particular Reuter's article does not address that.

Bono and Clinton make good points about the fact that when Wall Street needs a bailout there is a all hands on deck mentality for solving that crisis, but when kids who are dying from circumstances that are solvable each and everyday around the world, everything is just so damned difficult.

I suppose it's just a matter of prioritizing, which is also the fundamental argument for voting for Barack Obama and the Democrats. It's time for the 95% of the rest of us who are not rich, which includes the poor, working poor and middle-class to be the priority.

Reuter's Says (think 'Charlie says... love my good 'n plenty... Charlie says... really rings my bell... and if you're old enough, you probably already know the rest). PD

Congress debates a White House-proposed $700 billion bailout for the worst financial crisis since the Depression of the 1930s, Bono questioned why wealthy countries had not been able to come up with enough aid for the world's problems.

"It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger," the U2 lead singer told Clinton's fourth annual philanthropic summit in New York. "That's mad, that is mad."

"This crisis is not an excuse to walk away from the world's challenges, but a compelling reason to intensify our efforts to meet them, around the corner and around the world," said Clinton, who has focused on humanitarian work since leaving the White House in 2001.

The Group of Eight wealthy nations vowed in 2005 to raise annual aid levels $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of which was to go to Africa. But under current spending plans, the G8 will fall $40 billion short, according to a June report by the Africa Progress Panel set up to monitor implementation.

"Bankruptcy is a serious business and we all know people who have lost their jobs," Bono said, referring to the bankruptcy declared by Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. "But this is moral bankruptcy."