Word: clintone
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Haitians have waited patiently during the planning phase for reconstructing this Caribbean nation. And now plans reveal that a joint commission between Haitian authorities and the international community, co-chaired by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, will manage the funds. When I revealed the news to a family member, she jokingly said, "They're giving the money to the state! Good, I work for the state." It is a very serious joke. Haitians are concerned that aid money will not trickle down to the people but instead be used by the government...
...belly to understand the system. The people outside don't understand." Despite this record, the international community has decided to switch gears. Instead of funneling aid through non-governmental organizations, they say they will not bypass the bureaucracy of Port-au-Prince, hoping to strengthen it. Clinton recently called on all NGOs to "work ourselves out of a job" and make the Haitian government more self-sufficient. (See the top 10 deadliest earthquakes...
Plans for self-sufficiency include boosting the economy, by focusing on agriculture and tourism development. There are plans to expand roadways and increase transportation capabilities with the addition of two more international airports. Clinton also says Haiti should be transformed into a wireless country with Internet access throughout. But the feeling at large in Port-au-Prince itself is that, with the Haitian government in charge, all the talk of development is a distant dream, hardly a possible reality for citizens living in makeshift tents awaiting the rainy season. (See how to help the Haiti earthquake victims...
...agreed to the idea of posting financial documents online. But as Nordeuse sees it, the Haitian government is in a lose-lose situation. If the government succeeds, the international community will get the glory and if it fails the Haitian government will be blamed for corruption. Says Nordeuse, "Clinton has placed Bellerive in front to follow him, but Bellerive is the one who is going to take the fall when it goes wrong...
...November 1994, the Democratic presidency had been enfeebled by a series of disastrous setbacks. President Clinton decided right out of the gate to take on the polarizing issue of gays in the military, creating the widely unpopular "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. He also forced through the House an energy tax, known as the BTU tax, that would have charged all fuel sources based on their heat content; the measure failed in the Senate, and many vulnerable House Dems blamed that vote for the loss of their seats. And, of course, Clinton's attempt at health care reform...