Booker: "There is this concept called 'odious debt'. That's when loans were made to a repressive tyrant and the money was not used for the intended purposes. So when the tyrant goes, the debt should go. Otherwise, you have people paying for their own repression."

Steven Radelet, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, told the New York Times that American aid to Africa, totaling less than $5 a ear per Africa, is "about the same as what many Americans spend each morning for coffee and a bran muffin."  Most Americans believe the US spends 24% of its budget on poor countries, but the actual figure is less than one-quarter of 1%. This stands in contrast to Blair's call for the wealthy nations to increase aid to 0.7% of national income.- New York Times 6/8/2005

100% debt cancellation for Africa!