Playing Politics With the People of Darfur
2008-10-07 15:58:56
By:
Gene Bromberg
Ante Up for Africa is the signal charity of UltimateBet. Annie Duke, Don Cheadle and Norman Epstein have helped raise millions of dollars to bring attention to the humanitarian disaster in Darfur, Sudan. There was a huge fund-raising event during the World Series of Poker and another just last week during the Aruba Poker Classic. These tournaments are all good fun but behind them is a more serious purpose--to raise money and raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur.
During the recent Vice-Presidential debate between Joseph Biden and Sarah Palin, the Alaska Governor said that she protested the atrocities in Sudan by divesting state funds from Sudan-linked investments that were made by the $40 billion Alaska Permanent Fund. "When I and others in the legislature found out that we had some millions of dollars [of Permanent Fund investments] in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars," Palin said.
An admirable stance. Too bad
it isn't true.
According to Alaska state representative Les Gara, one of the co-sponsors of the bipartisan resolution to divest state funds from Sudanese investments, "The [Palin] administration killed our bill". Indeed, during a hearing on the issue a Palin Administration official had this to say:
"The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens' financial security is not a good combination," testified Brian Andrews, Palin's deputy revenue commissioner, before a hearing on the Gara-Lynn Sudan divestment bill in February.
Palin's statement in the debate made it seem that she took a leadership position on divesting state funds. In fact, despite
a number of attempts to get her Administration to act, she chose to do nothing. The Alaska Permanent Fund still has money invested in assets held by the Sudanese government.
And this is where charities like Ante Up for Africa can exert influence, by making sure people know what's going on, the stance their elected leaders have taken on the subject, and to hold those politicians accountable for their actions. Governor Palin tried to take credit for holding the Sudanese government accountable. In fact, she did no such thing. And that's a fact you should be aware of.
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