And the “Priorities” Continue To Be Skewed – Make That Screwed *Open Thread*

The Obama Administration continues to boggle the mind with the choices it makes. Just in the past month, we have had horrible decisions regarding travel and Ebola, ISIS, and an on-going refusal to call terrorism terrorism (the Oklahoma beheading).

Well, add one more to the list or poorly conceived decisions. That would be the decision to give Gaza a BOATLOAD of our money. From The Hill:

The United States on Sunday promised $212 million to help rebuild the Gaza Strip following its conflict with Israel.

Secretary of State John Kerry at a donor conference in Cairo said the Palestinians faced “enormous” challenges in the devastated Gaza Strip.

“The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately, not tomorrow, not next week, they need it now,” he said, according to an AFP report, also urging Israel-Palestine peace talks to resume.

At the event, about 30 envoys from countries including Germany, Norway, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar pledged millions to help meet a $4 billion goal set out by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon also attended.

The donations, Kerry said, bring the United States’ assistance to Palestine up to more than $400 million over the last year.

The Palestinian government previewed its plans for reconstruction before the conference began, and reports say that a majority of the funds would be dedicated to building housing. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

Let’s just start with that very first sentence: The United States on Sunday promised $212 million to help rebuild the Gaza Strip following its conflict with Israel.

WHAT?? This implies that there is equal blame there. There is not. Hamas kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teens, which it has FINALLY admitted to doing, and THAT is what started this war. And Hamas continued to rain down bombs on Israel, violating cease-fire after cease-fire. But WE are now going to pay for them to re-build after they initiated this violence, and perpetuated it? WTH??

Honestly, this makes me really angry. As The Hill article noted, this will bring the amount of aid we have given them to $400 MILLION in one year. $400 million.

Meanwhile, back here in the good ol’ US of A, we are paying hundreds of millions for the education and medical needs of children here illegally while our children are dying from the Enterovirus, one that is affecting people in FORTY-SIX states, according to Sharyl Attkisson.

And it is hitting very close to my home. In its infinite wisdom (cough, cough), one of the places slated for Sequester cutbacks is the US Coast Guard. The cutback applies directly to an aspect that is critically important: Search and Rescue helicopters. The Post and Courier has the story:

A man and his daughter were clinging to the hull of their flooded kayak in vast St. Helena Sound in August when they heard the chirring rotor blades and saw the familiar orange fuselage of the U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter.

Boaters in straits like that won’t have that copter nearby much longer. The U.S. Coast Guard is closing the Johns Island remote air facility that houses one of five SAR helicopters assigned to its Savannah, Ga., station, even as the state’s congressional delegation and local officials fight to save it. The closing date is Nov. 30.

The copter would move back to the Georgia station and eventually on to somewhere else. The Georgia station, 80 miles from Charleston, will be cut back to three helicopters for rescue missions ranging from mid-Florida to the North Carolina line – a move that piles critical minutes onto response times to emergency calls.

No kidding. These helicopters are amazing. They fly over our house all the time. In fact, while up in Charleston this past weekend, we watched one fly up the mouth of the harbor. I figured they were getting in some last runs. Ahem. Seriously, it was a beautiful day out, and the harbor was full of boaters. Their work, and the time in which they can render aid, is critical:

Rescues also would continue to be undertaken by boats moored in Charleston and other Coast Guard ports. Other support would include fixed wing aircraft from an air station in Elizabeth City, N.C., more than 300 miles away. State, local agencies and nearby “good Samaritan” mariners also would be called on, according to the Coast Guard.

The maritime community was stunned to hear that a port where tens of thousands of pleasure and commercial craft travel each year would be left without a vital SAR helicopter.

“Wow, I can’t believe that. We’ve got a ton of boats in and out of Charleston Harbor. Knowing you have a local helicopter that can come immediately – response time is so important,” said Steve Leasure, a Charleston-based deep sea sport fisherman.

“If you take away the Charleston helicopter, then the whole north half of this region is going to be impacted demonstrably, where most of the containership traffic runs. It could end up to be a big loss in lives as well as property,” said Denver Merrill, Maritime Association of South Carolina vice president.

“I think most people understand an air resource is going to be the quickest to a boat. It would seem to be a no-brainer to continue (running the facility).” […] (Click here to read the rest.)

It is just shocking that they could make this change. Especially when you look at the MANY places where our money is just being squandered, like the Obamacare website, which has wasted massive amounts of money, as noted in this BizPac article regarding the CDC, which has wasted a fair amount of money itself.

The priorities of this Administration are so screwed. Obama has zero qualms spending the same amount of money taking three vacations as it costs to operate an incredibly important SAR helicopter that SAVES LIVES. And that is the tip of the iceberg. Don’t even get me started on how much it costs us every time Obama goes to do a DNC fundraiser. APPALLING.

Yep, talk about your screwed priorities..

Before I go, I am happy to wish the US Navy a VERY Happy 239th Birthday:

This is an Open Thread.