"... the State Department declined to provide witnesses ..." The United States Congress appears to have just turned off the tap. And there is not a darned thing that the Obama administration can do about it, because Congress holds the purse strings. "Curses! Foiled again!" Too bad for the wimp-in-chief, and his private agenda. Oh, well. What's a closet Islamist and his State Department toadies to do?

with fees..only the west is stupid enough to feed their enemies..and its more hillarious if you think on the 16 trillion hole the U.S. allready has on debt..

Huh. The first smart move, yep, to halt talks on financial aid to Egypt. However, the State Dept seems to be evading Congressional questioning and that's not good. Americans need to know what's going on.

Have Democrats tweaked to the Arab winter yet?

The country is quickly sliding into a sharia state which will set the clock back another 500 years. They will support Hamas in its goal of destroying 'the Zionist Entity' and may give American weapons to Hamas to help! NO AID TO EGYPT!

Crucial? Give me a break - That's $16.6 per an Egyptian a year and a chump change for population with 90 million with 8 million working abroad and sending money back home ,...

Actually Egypt's population is roughly 83 million. Source: CIA Factbook. Figures apply to 2012. Egypt's GDP is roughly $ 220-230 Billion dollars. According to a homepage called tradingeconomics.com, Israel's GDP was roughly $240 Billion Dollars. These figures apply to 2011. Tiny Israel with almost 8 million inhabitants have a larger economy then Egypt with a population of 83 million. If you pay attention to Egypt's situation you know that Egypt is in a dysmal situation. Little dependency on the USA doesn't mean Egypt is doing well. Roughly 50% of the annual food consumption needs to be imported from abroad. Egypt has few oil resources and the great masses are hungry, uneducated, desperate and living under dysmal conditions. Arabs of Gaza, Judea and Samaria have a higher standard of living than Egypt. By the way: I didn't know that Catholic Poles like yourself liked Moslems so much. It seems anti-Semites of the strangest kinds unite against the Jews - right?

Don't you know how to read? Emergency debt relief, stupid, not annual aid. Egypt gets close to $4.0 billion annually from the United States. Well, they used to, at any rate.

They don't count those 8 million permanently abroad, anyway your number brings that $16.6 to 18 - Big deal ;) ,... You don't know a lots of things including a Catholic Poles. I'm an American if you happen to miss it and considering whom you have already tagged with antisemitism I'm in good company and wast majority. Have nice day ,...

Here's how it's done - By screwing Americans, google "U.S. and Israel agree to develop plan to boost trade" for details ,...

Odumba will again claim that propping up terrorists is a matter of "National Security" and overrule Congress just like he did when he gave the PA over $100 million after Congress blocked it.

Actually, Egypt's GDP has plummeted significantly; probably less than $150 billion. They've had two cotton crop failures in a row; Suez Canal revenues are down an estimated 60% (fees for transiting the Canal were grossly inflated to begin with, and Somali piracy and cheap IMO has made going around the Cape much more safe and far less expensive in terms of P&I insurance costs for shippers); and there is no tourism revenue to speak of, which has always been a mainstay of the Egyptian economy. And Egypt's situation is only going to get worse. The educated and professional classes are leaving in droves. The Moslem Brotherhood will find themselves ruling over a vast sea of illiterate and poverty-stricken Egyptians. Won't be long until the throngs return to Tahrir Square .....

Good start! Now if we could just do that with the rest of the MIddle East (Israel included) then maybe my taxes won't fund oppressive idiocracies!

Read again - "The United States offers Egypt about $1.5 billion in annual aid funds," not that i count on you understanding reality nor facts, its nice to enjoy your own little world with your own reality and facts. Enjoy and happy new year.

It was a bribe and enough for a crook like Mubarak to buy them a peace on the border with Egypt ,... Too much for pinhead like Ros-Lehtinen (her initiative) to comprehend ,...

...and a Russian Jew. Two Jews invented Google. You know Jews - members of the very people you hate. So you hate Jews but use a Jewish invention? You should boycott Google. split, I'm actually disappointed in you. I thought you would be a hard core anti-Semite. You are actually quite soft and hypocritical - like your intellectually, spiritually and morally deficient country of origin in Eastern Europe. split, all kinds of nonsense can be posted on the web. Even Nazis and mental patients can post things on the Internet. That means you are in good company. The fact that you read such nonsense makes me worried about your mental health. Do you actually believe your own lies? Because I can't take you seriously. I don't know if I am supposed to laugh or puke. But you are clearly a clown. Lehitraot.

Nice hearing from you again Sarah. If its true, that's very good news that Egypt's GDP has plummeted. That's good news for Israel. I don't reject the validity and factuality of your statement, but I wonder where I can find this piece of information.

in the USA unlike billions handed to the Arabs.

You're all over the map and not so bright - BTW, is there any nation or tribe on this Earth today or in the past that you haven't accused of antisemitism ?,...

It cannot even afford to import food!

they do with Pakistan Afghanistan etc taking billions from the USA while killing Americans Arab firsters dont care when US embassies are torched Americans killed or held hostage, that's why they are Arab firsters .

Very dangerous decision by the US. Russian will welcome back Egypt and pays Morsi what ever he want. By the way Russian's economy is very good and are able to pay billions of Dollars or Euros.

Keep your taxes!! Better idea, MOVE your egotistical self to europe! I'd MUCH rather mine go to Israel than ANY other place on earth!! What a offensive individual you are!

You miss the point entirely. Half of Egypt lives on less than $2 a day and probably 4/5 lives on poverty level wages in western terms. There is no ability to tax them to get 1.5 billion. The money you reference is needed for survival - it cannot be taken by the state for taxes. In order to tax to get 1.5 billion and leave Egypt as is, you are talking about the equivalent of adding billions of income at the top of the pyramid that can be taxed and that activity does not exist. It is going the other direction. Egypt would have a hard time coming up with 1.5 billion - they had to beg Qatar for 2 and only 1/4 of that has been delivered.

What is $ 1.5 billion for you. Help your egyptian brodthers to get rid of those american qafirs to strenghten Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt. You say NO ? You say SYMPATHY but no money ? You are right. You wont help them to strenghten islamic fundamentalism in Saudia. It ncould be the beginning of the and of the Saudi Kingdom.

I know most of it because I know the shipping industry -- cotton is shipped via dry bulk vessels, so you can check the Baltic dry Index, which will tell you the quantities of particular cargoes that are shipped, and the ports of embarkation, call and final discharge. It's a pay website, though, put if you're interested in this sort of information (I am), well worth it. I also vaguely remember reading an article a few months ago with respect to both reduced cotton shipments out of Egypt and declining markets for Egyptian cotton. With respect to the Suez, there's an industry publication, TradeWinds, that regulary reports on traffic and revenue for both the Suez and Panama Canals. The precipitous drop in ourism to Egypt -- that's been in the news since the Arab spring riots started, and Egypt's continuing instability and civil unrest is not helping matters.

First of all, Russia's economy is not all that good. Most of Russia's wealth is now in private hands, and nearly all of it is offshore. Secondly, Egypt really has no desire to give up American military materiel and replace it with Russian-made crap.