Reflections, Reflections

We know where half of the future WB budget will end up now. Corrupt third world dictators will not allow it, to be robbed by Wolfowitz of WB funds like this, in clear daylight.

Oh, what am I suggesting, I was delirious there for a second. The man does have a plan to eradicate poverty, and it's a very good one too. I can't understand why no one has thought of it before. It has been perfectly explained by the delightful Scrappleface news service:

Paul Wolfowitz, the U.S. deputy defense secretary nominated by President George Bush to head the World Bank, said today that his number one goal in his new role will be to install an automated teller machine (ATM) within five miles of every poor person in each developing country.

[more...]

Patrick Watt, policy officer at British charity Action Aid, slammed Mr. Bush's nominee, telling the Associated Press yesterday that Mr. Wolfowitz is not "pro-poor" and that the ATM plan would never work because many of the nations that receive World Bank money live under corrupt, totalitarian or socialist governments whose officials would find ways to channel the money toward their own personal enrichment.

Mr. Wolfowitz simply said, "Mr. Watt is right. I'm staunchly anti-poor. So are most poor people."

He added that his "plan B" is to fly airplanes over poor countries and drop $9 billion per year from the sky, "thereby increasing the chance that the funds will achieve their purpose."

.