gop stripped flu pandemic preparedness from stimulus

[saz]

GOP Stripped Flu Pandemic Preparedness From Stimulus

Jason Linkins l Huffington Post l 04/27/09 11:57 AM


Remember way back in the day, President Obama delivered his Not Really The State Of The Union address, and the GOP trotted out Future Of The Republican Party Supra-Genius Bobbly Jindal to provide a rebuttal? Well, we all had some laughs, didn't we? Mainly because Jindal was all: "They want to spend stimulus money on volcano monitoring (http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2009/02/volcano_monitoring_and_the_sti.php)? Why everyone knows that the Hill Witch keeps tabs on our volcanoes by floating chicken bones in her own intestinal ichor!" And then Alaska's Mount Redoubt erupted (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510100,00.html), suggesting there might be something to this "let's monitor volcanoes with government-funded science" idea.

Well, as it turns out, volcano monitoring wasn't the only worthwhile public safety program that was deemed extravagant in the stimulus package, funding for pandemic preparation was axed as well (http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/430261). And playing a critical role was Susan Collins -- for whom the necessity of obtaining her vote is in inverse proportion to the intelligence she shows in policy making:

Famously, Maine Senator Collins, the supposedly moderate Republican who demanded cuts in health care spending in exchange for her support of a watered-down version of the stimulus, fumed about the pandemic funding: "Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill No, we should not."

Even now, Collins continues to use her official website to highlight the fact that she led the fight to strip the pandemic preparedness money out of the Senate's version of the stimulus measure.

Naturally, it's tough to keep an economy stimulated if productivity gets diminished by a pandemic. And, hey, it turns out that the lack of a stable and well-funded public health infrastructure may not be so good for economic recovery as a whole:

On Monday, the question began to be answered, as Associated Press reported -- under the headline: "World Markets Struck By Swine Flu Fears" -- that: "World stock markets fell Monday as investors worried that a deadly outbreak of swine flu in Mexico could go global and derail any global economic recovery."

Before U.S. markets opened, the Wall Street Journal reported: "U.S. stock futures fell sharply Monday as the outbreak of deadly swine flu stoked fears that a possible recovery in the global economy could be derailed."

All of this is playing out at a time when HHS nominee sits on the sidelines (http://action.seiu.org/page/s/influenza), her nomination held up at the behest of pro-life organizations (http://www.operationrescue.org/sebelius-unfit-for-hhs-post-facts-about-her-connections-to-the-abortion-cartel/) who want to paint her as the "Abortion Queen." The hold up is pointless - merely delaying the inevitable for "another week." (http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/23/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4964709.shtml) Maybe the swine flu would be good enough to wait!

GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness (http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/430261) [The Nation]
Republicans Put Brakes On Sebelius' Nomination (http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/04/23/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4964709.shtml) [CBS News]
Rove mocked spending on flu preparedness (http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/04/27/rove-mocked-spending-on-flu-preparedness/#tab=home&url=home.php) [Raw Story]
Volcano Monitoring and the Stimulus: Cost Effective and a Clear Public Good (http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2009/02/volcano_monitoring_and_the_sti.php) [The Questionable Authority]


link (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/27/gop-stripped-flu-pandemic_n_191732.html)

[kaiser soze]

well, those zombies don't need to worry about the flu :eek:

[Bob]

government just creates more problems than it solves. the market will cure swine flu

[Burnout18]

swine=pork..... hmmmmmmm remember the gop singing it was a porkulus bill not a stimulus bill.... Did they know what was coming?!?!!?!? where is alien autopsy when you need him?

[King PSYZ]

Cheney did it

[Schmeltz]

If you are a conservative you can’t believe that something like an epidemic or a pandemic could even exist or you would have to grant the necessity for public health — a government function. Indeed, you even have to grant that a pandemic requires that people are going to be forced to behave in ways that explicitly define their own personal survival with the common good.

Rush is right to be a little bit nervous about this, though. Public health crises tend to focus the public on the usefulness of things like science, international cooperation, government coordination. You know, the sort of thing that liberals think are necessary. Something like that simply doesn’t fit into the conservative worldview. They see all problems and challenges in schoolyard terms of good guys and bad guys. This kind of challenge (like global warming) falls outside the paradigm by which they organize their world. Pandemics, like hurricanes, can’t be dealt with by using tough talk and threats. So, they are lost.

Lifted from This Modern World (www.thismodernworld.com). See, now it's not just the frenetic conservative devotion to unfettered and unregulated economics that's coming around to bite us in the ass. It's also the frenetic conservative opposition to science, public health, and reality in general. Every passing day continues to make more and more clear exactly how ridiculous conservative ideology has become.

[kaiser soze]

The mentality of employers who have no problem denying their workers comprehensive health care will only further deepen their problems as well

Imagine sick workers coming in because they have no healthcare or can't afford it only to spred it to their fellow workers (and customers). Now imagine if it is a superbug they are spreading, the place will be locked the fuck down (n)

Could this be another reason why Mexico is on the meltdown with this infection

[NoFenders]

Not really. Ever been to Mexico City?