Bono pushes U.S. to increase aid to poor
WASHINGTON (AP) — Quoting from Islamic, Jewish and Christian texts, rock star Bono called Thursday for the U.S. government to give an additional 1% of the federal budget to the world's poor.
Of course, Bono keeps speaking to those who smile and nod and talk about how important Bono's work is, but then, what we get from those who have audience with Bono is more lip-service.
I understand why Bono feels that it's so important to speak to these leaders, and some of his words do sound brave, but when is he going to point out their hypocrisy. Bush talks a big game when it comes to his State of the Union addresses, but has he really stepped-up service to the world's poor? Actually, what he does is call those who fight to end unlawful occupation of their lands "terrorists" and he kills more innocent civilians than the evil dictators he uses as patsies for his wars.
Bono did up the ante in his speech from this morning, raising the requested commitment from .7% to 1% of the government's budget, but why didn't he point out that the wealthy West hasn't even come close to achieving the .7 requested for the Millennium Development Goals?
Speaking to President Bush and members of Congress at the National Prayer Breakfast, the U2 front man said it's unjust to keep poor people from selling their goods while singing the virtues of the free market, to hold children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents and to withhold medicines that would save lives.
"God will not accept that," he said. "Mine won't. Will yours?"
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