During an Oct. 2 debate between the two major U.S. parties' vice presidential candidates, Democrat Joe Biden said, when asked what promises Barack Obama, if elected president, may not be able to keep because of a $700 billion economic rescue plan passed the next day:
"Well, the one thing we might have to slow down is a commitment we made to double foreign assistance. We'll probably have to slow that down."
This is a far cry from the original pledge from the Obama/Biden camp:
"Obama and Biden will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and they will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal. They will help the world's weakest states to build healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth."
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said John McCain would follow through on his pledges if elected president Nov. 4. McCain has expressed support for international development and the Millennium Challenge Corp. in particular. This blog suggested earlier this week that the economic downturn will hurt the development community, as the first funds to be cut are often those used for charitable causes. It looks as if the speculation turned out correct.
