# Bush gave away $30-billion the other day for AIDs research. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 3, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610 "2007-06-03T21:46:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/21 "2007-06-03T23:05:44Z")
[QUOTE=GuyNblueJeans] They can try something called “abstinence.” [/QUOTE] Sure, if everyone did that then the problem would resolve itself, completely and permanently. You start. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/22 "2007-06-03T23:06:01Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] Are you suggesting that an entire continent become abstinent? [/QUOTE] Now, now, let’s not resort to hyperbole. I’m sure all he meant was for the sub-Saharan region to adhere to a strict policy of abstinence until marriage, as has been successfully practiced in so many other places and times in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/23 "2007-06-03T23:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=GuyNblueJeans] $30-billion. Where does it end? He could have just told them that we’re not giving them a dime. They can try something called “abstinence.” [/QUOTE] OK lemme see if I’ve got this right. _President Bush_ asks for a massive increase in funding for AIDS research. _A paying member of the SDMB_ comes in moaning about how we poor taxpayers must fund this. When pressed on the issue, he says the Africans should _all just bloody well practice abstinence_. I’m going to go lie down now. Someone’s obviously spiked my lemonade with really really bad acid. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/24 "2007-06-03T23:17:17Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] I’m sure all he meant was for the sub-Saharan region to adhere to a strict policy of abstinence until marriage, as has been successfully practiced in so many other places and times in the world. [/QUOTE] _Note: I recognize your sarcasm, so don’t take this as addressing your post._ If I remember my facts correctly, many of the women _are_ celibate until marriage (unless raped, which I include because I believe the rape rates are quite high in some areas), but it only takes one of the couple to stray and then bam. And then the Catholic Church engages in their war on condoms, meaning that if the women are free of AIDS and their husbands are infected, they won’t wear condoms because they’ve been told that condoms don’t help, and might actually hurt. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/25 "2007-06-03T23:23:47Z")
[QUOTE=GuyNblueJeans] $30-billion. Where does it end? He could have just told them that we’re not giving them a dime. They can try something called “abstinence.” [/QUOTE] And if they realized that abstinence was a good way to do that, some of them would. But the level of misinformation in Africa is insane- people there are hearing crazy things like that [garlic, beetroot, and lemon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_South_Africa) to cure AIDS. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to spend money on informing them. But that’s not what this is about (I think; the OP is vague). AIDS research would benefit people in the states. In response to the OP: Great! That’s a good use of taxpayer money. Unlike, you know, the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/26 "2007-06-03T23:30:56Z")
[QUOTE=GuyNblueJeans] $30-billion. Where does it end? He could have just told them that we’re not giving them a dime. They can try something called “abstinence.” [/QUOTE] True, they could masturbate instead. Oh wait, [you’re against that,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=422381) too. I haven’t read the full context of the funding, but on the surface I’d say this increase is one of the few positive points of Little Boots’ administration. ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/27 "2007-06-03T23:33:23Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] We are grateful for every dollar we are able to steal [/QUOTE] You’re proud of this sentence? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/28 "2007-06-03T23:36:08Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Now, now, let’s not resort to hyperbole. I’m sure all he meant was for the sub-Saharan region to adhere to a strict policy of abstinence until marriage, as has been successfully practiced in so many other places and times in the world. [/QUOTE] [Hijack]I read a study a while ago that said teenagers pledging abstinence had a higher rate of disease and pregnancy a year later than those who promised to have safe sex.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/29 "2007-06-03T23:36:38Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] True, they could masturbate instead. Oh wait, [you’re against that,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=422381) too. [/QUOTE] Holy shit. I feel like Lionel Mandrake now. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/30 "2007-06-03T23:39:35Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] You’re proud of this sentence? [/QUOTE] Absolutely. You had your say about how your tax dollars are spent when you entered the polling booth. Fortunately, a majority of our representative government agrees that the government should fund medical research, even if a minority of the voters regards it as theft. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/31 "2007-06-03T23:40:23Z")
[QUOTE=Nancarrow] Bush requested an increase in funding for AIDS research? :eek: Fuck me. I’m absolutely astonished! [/QUOTE] You shouldn’t be. Bush has already done a great deal to fight AIDS in Africa, far more than any previous administrations. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/32 "2007-06-03T23:40:13Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] You’re proud of this sentence? [/QUOTE] I think that within the context that **Fear Itself** put that sentence (you know, the context you didn’t quote), yes he is proud of that sentence, and has every right to be. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/33 "2007-06-03T23:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=GuyNblueJeans] As a hard-working tax payer, How does that make you feel? [/QUOTE] I feel better about it than I do the $14 you wasted on a membership. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/34 "2007-06-03T23:55:46Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] Holy shit. I feel like Lionel Mandrake now. [/QUOTE] Damn you, I wanted to make that same reference. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/35 "2007-06-03T23:57:43Z")
**Fear Itself:** I’ll state that I think mere residence in a country in which you are born implies a tacit agreement at best and is not sufficient justification for taxation. From that position, yes, I, the minority, call it stealing. I’m not completely heartless, though. I think it was right for you to accept the stolen money to save a life, but I feel you should still repay your debt for the crime committed. Since it’s impractical to repay every member of society who contributed their like amount, might I suggest volunteering at a homeless shelter? I am well aware that you disagree any such crime was commited, but I hope you see where I am coming from. ---
**Author:** ![GuyNblueJeans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@GuyNblueJeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuyNblueJeans)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/36 "2007-06-04T00:03:24Z")
Dear Friends, you’ve got me all wrong. I’m all for helping people out. I do it myself as much as my limited income permits. Yup; it’s true, I’ve sent money to help folks in Africa (more than any other country, in fact) a number of times. But this country is so far in the red ink that it’s not funny! And so Bush and Rice have no business taking money that’s not theirs and giving it away. I have no children and never will, nevetheless, I still am opposed to what many of these photo-op politicians are doing with the money that many Americans work so hard to make, money that is not theirs to give away. There’s nothing wrong with a country being financially solvent (ask your grand kids 30-years down the road). If you folks are so quick to slam me for where I stand in this regard, fine. Then may I respectfully suggest that you put YOUR OWN MONEY where your mouths are and start sending it out to the desperate people of your choice, as I have. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/37 "2007-06-04T00:03:56Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] I am well aware that you disagree any such crime was commited, but I hope you see where I am coming from. [/QUOTE] That would be the hinterlands of Outer Randistan? ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/38 "2007-06-04T00:06:02Z")
No, Rand was a psycho bitch who couldn’t see that just because you don’t have to help someone doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/39 "2007-06-04T00:08:12Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot] I think it was right for you to accept the stolen money to save a life, but I feel you should still repay your debt for the crime committed. [/QUOTE] I volunteer my time out of the same sense of duty as all citizens should, whether I receive the benefits of your taxes or not. I don’t think I need a quid pro quo to motivate me to donate my time. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610/40 "2007-06-04T00:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=GuyNblueJeans] Then may I respectfully suggest that you put YOUR OWN MONEY where your mouths are and start sending it out to the desperate people of your choice, as I have. [/QUOTE] How is this NOT putting our money where our mouths are? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-gave-away-30-billion-the-other-day-for-aids-research/406610.md?page=3)