Bolivia to Spend $6.8B to Fight Poverty

[Eugene]

Bolivia to Spend $6.8B to Fight Poverty


Saturday June 17, 2006 3:01 PM

AP Photo DG101

By FIONA SMITH

Associated Press Writer

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Bolivian President Evo Morales' leftist government says
it will fight poverty, hunger and homelessness in South America's poorest nation
by investing $6.8 billion through 2010, much of it with ambitious public works
projects.

The funding will come chiefly from Bolivia's recently nationalized natural gas
wealth, with international lenders and foreign investment also important sources.

The development plan, announced Friday, would significantly boost the state's
role in the economy, creating jobs and delivering more basic public services
such as subsidized meals for school children and greater access to potable water.

Bolivia will be "dismantling the neoliberal policies that have impregnated
Bolivia in recent decades in order to build a social and communal state
to live well," Carlos Villegas, the planning and development minister, told
a crowd of dignitaries at the presidential palace that included foreign
diplomats and representatives of the country's indigenous poor.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5893155,00.html

[MADem]

1. That's great news, and I need new glasses!!

When I first saw the link, I thought it said they were spending six dollars and eighty eight cents!!!!

[Bonobo]

7. My old poli sci prof used to remind us that money was a cure for poverty

[Robbien]

10. Exactly what I saw also. What only seven bucks?

Nice to see how wrong that was and nice to see Morales working on reversing neo-liberalism. Hopefully he will be allowed to continue without too much interference by the elites.

[ooglymoogly]

13. me too

good on ya morales kick and nom....glad to be the fifth

[TheModernTerrorist]

14. you and me both

maybe I NEED glasses...

[1932]

2. I bet FDR is their inspiration.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. Soooo.... how many hummers, bradleys, B-1's and MOAB's can

they get for this paltry sum??? Kudos to them for doing the right thing.

[Skink]

4. So if you nationalize stuff this is what you can do?

Kudos Morales.

[peacetalksforall]

5. I hope he will do his best to make sure that all new businesses can

rise up within Bolivia to accomplish this (and in Latin America and the Caribbean when required) - and that he refuses to deal with the predatory corporations of the United Stats of Corporations.

Viva Morales!

Refreshing news. Thanks for posting.

[BrotherBuzz]

6. When the gas fields becone fully developed...

Bolivia will be able to add a zero to that figure and still have zero national debt. Huzzah to another South American country that has broken the economically shackle of imperialism .

Careful Wolfowitz, Bush* and the energy boys are just mad enough to take your Medal of Freedom away!

[rucky]

8. recommended. n/t

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

12. as did I-it only needs one more vote n/t

.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. How undemocratic of him

That's what Bush will say.

[Vidar]

11. Viva Morales!

[cantstandbush]

15. Uh oh, time for the Bushbots to start some shit with Boliva. Socialist

evil doers!

[killbotfactory]

16. A tyrant cuba-loving dictator!

We must cruch his coca-loving ass before he destroys our society with drugs and ideas.

[happydreams]

17. Neoliberalism

The Wikipedia version is interesting. You will note that the primary basis for neoliberalism is "free markets", That is markets unfettered by government interference. Unfortunately free markets do not exist as such. What we have are multi-national oligopolies and monopolies that use government for their own purposes--corporate welfare. They then pull out the free market BS whenever a country tries to do something good for its people--social welfare.

The Democrats and Repugs are in this together:

In the American context, for example, economist Brad DeLong is a prominent defender of neoliberalism, although he is a Keynesian, supporter of income redistribution, and fierce critic of the Bush Administration. In US usage, neoliberalism ("new liberalism") is commonly associated with the Third Way, aka social-democracy under the New Public Management movement. Supporters of the US version of neoliberalism present it as a pragmatic position, focusing on "what works" and transcending debates between left and right, despite new liberalism's similitude to classical center-of-left economic policies (such as has been traditional to 20th century Canada). The overlapping of these usages can create considerable confusion. In international usage, President Ronald Reagan and the United States Republican Party are seen as leading proponents of neoliberalism. But Reagan was never described in this way in domestic US political discussion, where the term is most commonly applied to moderate Democrats like the Democratic Leadership Council.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberal

[pitohui]

18. frankly we should nationalize our own oil and gas industry

this one industry should not be allowed to choke the life out of all others by its greed

a hotel who gouged during hurricane katrina can be prosecuted and some were indeed fined, the oil companies which earned the greatest profit for any quarter of any industry in any nation in any known period of time because they gouged us when we had to flee katrina -- nothing was done and there was no prosecution of even one CEO

oil and gas resources should belong to the people and the nation, not to the gougers

it's a shame that venezuela, mexico, even bolivia are more leaders in this than usa