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134 comments on DrumBeat: January 6, 2009

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Geckolizard on January 6, 2009 - 10:49am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Venezuela suspends US fuel aid

Citgo, Venezuela's Texas-based oil subsidiary, has suspended its scheme to provide cheap heating oil to thousands of low-income families in the US.

The programme is being halted because of falling world oil prices, the group that administers the scheme said.

The Venezuelan government says that since 2005, some 220,000 poor families in the US have benefited.

When the scheme was launched, critics said it was a publicity stunt by the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez...

"The current economic meltdown," he said, "has forced Citgo to re-evaluate all the assistance programnes that they provide."

Uncle Hugo must be feeling the pinch. Do ya think Obama might fill in and bail these folks out?

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Fractional_Flow on January 6, 2009 - 10:59am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Does Joe Kennedy get paid by the gallon??

If so he might have to cut his $400,000 salary he takes to help the poor.

FF

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Robert Rapier on January 6, 2009 - 11:12am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Is that really his salary? Do you have a source? This is one of my pet peeves: Charitable organizations paying outrageous salaries. I want to know when I contribute that I am not funding someone's vacation home in France.

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Fractional_Flow on January 6, 2009 - 11:14am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24351

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BrianT on January 6, 2009 - 11:20am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The United Way has always been one of the worst offenders in this regard.

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WNC Observer on January 6, 2009 - 12:02pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The not-for-profit sector has always been a handy place for unproductive trust-funders to park themselves. Respectable titles, cushy offices, lots of elbow-rubbing with the rich and powerful and glamorous, little pressure to do real work and no need to actually generate a profit. Plus a nice salary to supplement the cash flow from the trust fund.

/Cynical rant off

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woodychuck on January 6, 2009 - 12:17pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

We must have a different class of people here in Oklahoma than what you have in W North Carolina. The only time I went looking for money to fund a part time employee, we got turned down because we were not looking for enough money. We just found a volunteer instead. No paperwork, no taxes, and she probably worked harder because she truly wanted to contribute to what we were doing.

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WNC Observer on January 6, 2009 - 1:23pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Your part-timer job is probably in a completely different category than the type of positions that the Joe Kennedys of the world occupy.

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woodychuck on January 7, 2009 - 6:16am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Absolutely - she has never even had a press conference. But, we do not do things on a grand scale either. But, the earlier comments were on the wasteful / excessive salaries at non-profits. We just don't have any salaries.

I tend to see, in other non-profits, a lot of time wasted by the actual workers, like at recycling centers and plants. This may be a part of their mission or perceived mission, but the folks getting the programs organized and working are generally underpaid (or volunteer) and hard working, in smaller non-profits. I have heard the reference in this regard to a working Board - folks are selected for their contributions, not who they know.

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woodychuck on January 6, 2009 - 12:13pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The best way to know where your money is going is to get active in the organization, even in a small way, before giving. The huge charitable organizations have to pay huge salaries to keep the top people, but the little ones have to get the work done. Many of the small ones, the ones delivering the goods, the ones doing the work, have no payroll whatsoever. It is hard to get many of the big charities to pay for infrastructure, and they want to see results. I have been a part of four, each all volunteer organizations, and we have been able to get it done. Local efforts produce local results.

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jbunt on January 6, 2009 - 5:54pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

You do not have to worry Robert - When you fund Joe Kennedy, you are just funding the ego of an ignorant bastard, not a vacation home in France.

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Geckolizard on January 6, 2009 - 6:43pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top


Ich bin ein Berliner... Er, Billionarie...

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134 comments on DrumBeat: January 6, 2009

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