July 27, 2007, - 3:50 pm

Want the U.S. Government to Fund Half of Your Business? . . .

By
. . . Become an Iraqi.
Today’s USA Today notes that the U.S. government is now giving Iraqis

grants that pay up to half of what Iraqis need to start a business.
“This is my golden opportunity,” [Hamid] Hussein said. “Nobody before offered such a great favor to jobless people.”

And nobody offered it to jobless Americans, either. So, why are Americans paying for 1/2 of new businesses for Iraqis? And by the way, the government isn’t even doing the vetting. It’s giving the money and the job of vetting to the politically-charged Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce. Bad move.


I’m all for helping Iraq become a civilization (if that’s possible). But to treat Iraqis better than we treat Americans is a little ridiculous. The article, entitled “U.S. Grants Help Iraqis Launch Business Dreams,” begs the question:

What about Americans’ business dreams?–Don’t they deserve launching?

This is going way overboard and way beyond our duty as Americans. If we aren’t going to fund 1/2 of all new businesses for Americans on American soil, don’t do it for them.
Oh, and what was that about us going into Iraq “for cheap oil” and funding 1/2 of all new Iraqi business start-ups?




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14 Responses

The government could fund all of my business 10 times over and I still would not want to be an Iraqi. Certainly not one living in Iraq.

feralcat9 on July 27, 2007 at 4:22 pm

“Oh, and what was that about us going into Iraq “for cheap oil” and funding 1/2 of all new Iraqi business start-ups?”
————————————————–
Did you forget? We went to Iraq because it had WMD, not for “cheap oil.”
Of course we must help the Iraqis find jobs and funding their new businesses, even granting them visas to come and share the “American dream.”
Don’t we have the biggest embassy in the world, in Baghdad?
I will not be surprised if “little Bush” declares Iraq the 51st state by a presidential executive order and shove it up our throats by the end of his term while Congress is in recess, at least he can try. (Of course I’m being sarcastic, to a certain degree.)
See, in the White House, they have a different view of the world… a crooked view, that is.
And God help America when Hillary takes over.
I suggest we enjoy the few months left before November 2008, because we ain’t seen nothing yet.

Independent Conservative on July 27, 2007 at 4:27 pm

Just as Jimmy Carter paved the way for Ronald Reagan, George Bush may well pave the way for HildaBeast.

feralcat9 on July 27, 2007 at 4:38 pm

Bankrupting America helping Muslims. ‘Let them eat cake” (to the Americans) should be Bush’s new motto. This ‘war’ and all its reconstruction and stablization ‘support’costs now exceeds $500,000,000,000.00. It is just unbelievable at the insanity of this Bush administration. unbelievable. unforgivable.
If a Prius costs $25,000, the government could have bought…are you ready? 20 MILLION PRIUS! That is just one example, I am sure everyone can do many comparisons that bring the point home.

John Sobieski on July 27, 2007 at 7:02 pm

If a haircut costs $400, the government could have bought…are you ready? 1,250,000,000 HAIRCUTS!!!

feralcat9 on July 27, 2007 at 7:50 pm

If a botox treatment costs $500, the government could have bought…are you ready? 1 BILLION BOTOX TREATMENTS!!!

feralcat9 on July 27, 2007 at 7:52 pm

Disgusting!!!How dare they do these things? Who decides to give our money away like this? There are a lot of Americans struggling also, Americans paying taxes, paying into the retirement and the medical insurance system. There are plenty of them that could use money to start businesses. This is worse than what he is doing with the illegal immigrants!!!!!Time to start another campaign to stop this lunacy!!!Our president is like a child that does things to see how much he can get away with!!!!!
Is there nothing President Bush won’t do to make it look like this war is successful? Enough already!!!!
I wish I would’ve known the real Bush when he was running to be President.
The thing is, I’m sure that he thinks he is doing the right thing, but the right thing for whom? That’s what’s so disturbing about it.

TheAwakenedOne on July 27, 2007 at 11:21 pm

President Bush – “Our troops are helping them build democracies
that respect the rights of their people, uphold the rule of law and fight
extremists alongside America in the war on terror”
Given the “ingredients” of Islamic Shiites and Islamic Sunnis, as
the New York cab driver said, “You can’t get there from here”.
One might just as well try to build a Starship out of mud and straw.
Bush is not a stupid man, so he almost has to know this, but he
apparently now has so much personally vested [over 4 years, over 3,600 dead
American troops, many more severely disabled, and hundreds of billions of
dollars in the process] in the fantasy that Muslims, the followers of
Mohammad, are just yearning for democracy and human rights and are
ready, willing and able to “fight extremists alongside America in the war
on terror” if “we” just “hang in there”.
With so many others paying such a heavy price, a better man, a man with
less exaggerated self pride, would have admitted his mistake some time
ago and would have ended this.

feralcat9 on July 28, 2007 at 4:41 am

Too many “mistakes” regarding Islam. Bush knows exactly what he is doing……..deluding ourselves into thinking otherwise is a recipe for disaster.
[I am Israeli] Because our grandparents in Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and other European nations rationalised their government and neighbour’s actions in the 1930’s……..we have very small family re-unions.
Bush-Baker-Clinton-Bush are all Islamists. They hate everything America stands for, and they especially hate Jews.
Stop making excuses for the inexcusable. Support for an Islamic takeover of the United States is massive within the government…..as long as the politicos are promised payment and favoured treatment.
It may be too late for a change in direction, something my grandparents in Poland didn’t realise until 1940.

Miluimnik on July 28, 2007 at 9:17 am

Wow. One wonders how much American cash will end-up purchasing weapons and supporting logistics to kill Americans serving in Iraq. That storyline, sadly, is not confined to Iraq.
I’m mystified – if this is a good idea for building a strong civilization in Iraq, let’s build one here.

Ground State on July 29, 2007 at 2:10 pm

On it’s individual merits I don’t have a problem with this. Might want to try this with those south of our border. Grassroots investing. Keep them busy where they live and they’d be less likely to head north or over here. The Iraqis import plastic furniture from Iran? The money’s there to be spent on simple furniture. There’s a market, jump starting the Iraqi economy will keep Iraqi money in Iraq. It’s a start.

John Cunningham on July 29, 2007 at 5:19 pm

The government shouldn’t be ‘giving’ money to anybody. It’s a crime that kids don’t learn about stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, etc by the time they’re in the 7th grade. If they taught children to start saving for health, retirement, housing, and everything else, and how much they could expect to need by age 60, the government wouldn’t have to ‘help’ anybody. They know this, and they are all complete crooks. The politicians have succeeded in raising generations of ignoramuses who can’t fend for themselves, and now it’s going to bring down the whole socialist system that’s been created.

steve ventry on July 29, 2007 at 6:55 pm

Am I missing something?
So, where does the Iraqi entrepeneur get the other half of the required funds? From the money they recieved by releasing their kidnap victims?
Will there be interest payments? Are we using their rules of banking or ours? I hope there is the intention that the money will be repaid. And, can a business really be started with $10K in Iraq?
This is nothing more than a payoff for not causing trouble. In that regard it might be a good temporary plan.
Although inefficient the Iraqi factories that were shut down should be re-opened. That would get far more people off the streets. Then slowly modernize the factories.

zyzzyg on July 30, 2007 at 11:01 am

Today my cousin’s widow is going down to Social Insecurity because THEY are trying to renege on the money they gave her son who no longer gets benefits because he’s 18—THEIR CLAIM is she now makes too much money [because she’s working double shifts to pay the mortgage].
Yeah, Amerikkka is so fucking great!!!

EminemsRevenge on July 30, 2007 at 1:04 pm

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