The Oil Drum

18 comments on Chinese lower their intended purchases

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isaiah on September 13, 2005 - 10:28pm

i know this is off topic, but i posted a comment about the American Red Cross here. since so many of us (myself included) thinks (or thought) donating to them was a good way to help, it behooves us to know what they are about.

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coffee17 on September 14, 2005 - 8:49am

I was under the assumption that the Red Cross never guaranteed that any donation (whether monetary or material) would go to a specific cause, so hearing that the Red Cross wanted to add the 9/11 money to their "war chest" isn't surprising. I know that on the local freecycle list a lot of people were mad about this (mini rant: there were people upset that the red cross wouldn't ship baby clothes and other large bulky items directly to new orleans. Excuse me, if you want your particular donation to make it to X location, ship it there yourself. Oh, is that too expensive? Well, now you know why the red cross won't do it. It would be a waste of resources; as long as there are local poor who need the materials it should stay local. Monetary resources are likely to get more spread out, but they tend to stay mostly in-country with a bit of a war chest for natural disasters where-ever.

Hearing that the US Red Cross co-ordinated with Homeland Security, even tho Homeland Security drug it's feet also isn't really a surprise.

I'm sure that there probably is an association which would be better at giving Aid, but if you're looking at large associations (so one doesn't have to spend a lot of time trying to find someone to give the money to) the Red Cross seems to be far better than the other alternatives. Well, at least the one alternative that I know being the United Way. They seem to have a history of lots of embezzlement and higher administrative costs (not counting disappearing funds).

The generic war chest is a good thing, because that way the big emergencies which get people to potentially over-give help cover the smaller emergencies which don't make the paper.

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isaiah on September 14, 2005 - 4:00pm

since 8 of the 50 board members of the ARC, including the CEO (Marsha Evans) and the Chair of the Board (McElveen-Hunter), were both appointed by US Presidents, i have serious doubts about ever giving to the ARC again. it appears to be a large waste of individuals' money and instead a way to divert it to the powerful and connected; instead i'm giving to a couple local groups and the NAACP which is working with MoveOn.org Civic Action to coordinate housing for victims. I hear ACORN is a good locally focused group as well.

McElveen-Hunter was appointed by Bush in June 2004. Her Red Cross bio says she is the "former U.S. Ambassador to Finland (2001-2003) and the CEO and owner of Pace Communications, Inc., the largest private custom publishing company in the United States. The company's clients include such Fortune 500 companies as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, AT&T, Carlson Hotels, and Toyota."

McElveen-Hunter donated more than $130,000 to the Republican Party since 2000, RAW STORY has found. Her largest donations were $25,000 to the Republican National Committee in April 2004 and $100,000 in July 2000. In May 2000, she gave $1000 to "Bush for President, Inc."

Marsha J. Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Red Cross, is a Rear Admiral in the Navy and the Director of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., a global investment bank serving the financial needs of corporations, institutions, governments and high-net-worth investors worldwide, according to the corporation's web site. Evans also sits on the boards of the May Department Stores Company and Weight Watchers International and was recently elected to the board of the Huntsman Corporation, a large chemical and plastics manufacturer. She is also a presidential appointee to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Military Academy.

ARC only gave to victims $10 Million of the $50 Million it collected for the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. According to one researcher, critics also protested holdbacks following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Red River flooding in 1997 and a San Diego fire in 2001. After 9/11 the ARC held back more than half of the net $543 Million it had raised. Putting that money in a Liberty Fund, doesn't make me or the victims feel any better.

While courts have considered the Red Cross a "government instrumentality" immune from state taxation, they have not viewed it as such for purposes of religious discrimination or Freedom of Information Act claims. In other words, the Red Cross obtains the tax benefits of being a "government instrumentality," but is exempt from the obligations that government carries.

One federal court noted that, "Close cooperation with government is essential to the work of the Red Cross. A perception that the organization is independent and neutral is equally vital."

The Supreme Court has found that "time and time again, both the President and the Congress have recognized and acted in reliance upon the Red Cross' status virtually as an arm of the Government."