Thousand dollar bills
Congress recently passed Obama's war funding bill H.R. 2346 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009, which according to GOP.gov is a $105.8 billion spending bill. RawStory.com quoted Ron Paul, who stated the bill includes a $108 billion asset exchange with the International Monetary Fund.
GOP.gov confirms the actual amount:
Last week, Democrats in the House and Senate came to a conference agreement on the final language for the Conference Report. The agreement provides billions in non-defense funding, including $108 billion to expand the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) loan programs, which was not included in the House bill. The $108 billion was agreed to by the President in April when he and other members of the G-20 created a plan to increase IMF supplemental funding by tenfold and broaden the role of the Fund.
We can only assume the $108 billion is separate from the $105.8 billion. The $108 IMF funding is described as a buy back, or loan guarantee.
According to Thomas.gov the IMF funds are to help Pakistan, although the IMF has come under fire as being the actual cause of global poverty by both Progressive--like Senator Bernie Sanders who voted to strip the IMF funding--and Republicans such as Ron Paul.
Republican Jim DeMint tried to strip out the IMF funding in the Senate bill by introducing Amendment 1138:
The DeMint amendment failed although Robert Bennett voted for the amendment. Orrin Hatch did not vote. There were 30 nays and 64 yeas.
Senate Vote On Passage: H.R. 2346: Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009
House Vote on Conference Report: H.R. 2346: Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009
Information on how to contact your elected officials
There are several reports stating the policies in NAFTA that devastated Mexico where championed by the World Bank and IMF:
Press release: World Bank and IMF share in blame for Mexico's crisis: From the 50 Years Campaign on Mexico Crisis 6 January, 1995
John Perkins author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, has done a number of interviews where he claims the money being loaned out by the IMF and World Bank is used for infrastructure projects that go to companies like Halliburton, Halliburton's subsidiary KBR, and Bechtel. The ruling elite in the country take a cut for accepting the offer, and then the citizens of the country are left holding the debt.
Progressive John Pilger has made 35 documentaries from 1970 to 2006. His films have been distributed in the UK, Australia and Canada, but have not been released in the US. Pilger's 2006 documentary The New Rulers of the World takes a look at the effect the World Bank and IMF had on Indonesia.
John Pilger's documentary War by other Means examines the World Bank.
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