a spokeswoman for Obama said he would honor existing agreements pertaining to foreign aid and as such was committed to "increasing aid to Israel to $30 billion over 10 years."

In the vice presidential debate last week, Obama’s running mate Senator Joe Biden said their administration would have to hold back on plans to double foreign aid in general in light of the financial crisis in the U.S.

The additional military "grants" mentioned in the article usually start off as loans, but Congress invariably forgives loans to Israel and converts them to "grants". Israel has never had to actually repay a loan. When the U.S. "loans" Israel money, the eventual conversion of that loan into a grant is written into the loan agreement.

I forgot to mention that the reason these loans are structured that way is to ensure Israel's credit rating. By having government loans converted into grants, Israel is able to brag that it has "never defaulted" on a U.S. loan.

Here's an example of a Zionist Jew, Howard Fienberg, bragging about Israel "never defaulting on a loan":

The controversy lies in the "hidden costs" which Stauffer claims to have discovered.

(He's referring to these claims made by economist Thomas Stauffer regarding aid to the terror state.)

For instance, he counts any loans or loan guarantees as a cost. The U.S. has made $10 billion in commercial loans, and $600 million in housing loans, to Israel. Because Israel's economy is currently in poor shape, Stauffer has decided that the loans will not be repaid. As the Monitor explains, Stauffer predicts "the U.S. would end up paying both principal and interest, perhaps 10 years out." But where does Stauffer get his information? Since Israel has never defaulted on any loans, even a talented economist would need a crystal ball to confidently predict a default ten years down the line.

You don't need a crystal ball to know that Israel has never repaid a loan to the U.S. treasury, though.

Further, friends of Israel never tire of saying that Israel has never defaulted on repayment of a U.S. government loan. It would be equally accurate to say Israel has never been required to repay a U.S. government loan. The truth of the matter is complex, and designed to be so by those who seek to conceal it from the U.S. taxpayer.

Most U.S. loans to Israel are forgiven, and many were made with the explicit understanding that they would be forgiven before Israel was required to repay them. By disguising as loans what in fact were grants, cooperating members of Congress exempted Israel from the U.S. oversight that would have accompanied grants. On other loans, Israel was expected to pay the interest and eventually to begin repaying the principal. But the so-called Cranston Amendment, which has been attached by Congress to every foreign aid appropriation since 1983, provides that economic aid to Israel will never dip below the amount Israel is required to pay on its outstanding loans. In short, whether U.S. aid is extended as grants or loans to Israel, it never returns to the Treasury.