some perspective
Originally, the US president pledged $15M in tsunami aid. In a mere six days, the donations collected by Amazon.com
alone top $11M.
The US president then pledges $35M in tsunami aid. His inauguration "celebration" is slated to
cost $40M.
Now the US is going to send $350M, which is a good start...but it represents
slightly less than 3 days' worth of expenditures in Iraq, and considerably less than the $13 BILLION earmarked for Florida this year, after Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne hit the state.
Thankfully, private individuals and corporations are stepping up.
