I’m surprised it took this long. Everything that went wrong prior to January 20, 2009 was blamed on Republicans and President Bush. Everything that ever goes wrong subsequent to January 20, 2009 is also blamed on Republicans. This time it’s because they objected to pandemic preparedness funds in the Porkulus Bill.
When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year’s emergency stimulus bill, he was ridiculed by conservative operatives and congressional Republicans.
Obey and other advocates for the spending argued, correctly, that a pandemic hitting in the midst of an economic downturn could turn a recession into something far worse — with workers ordered to remain in their homes, workplaces shuttered to avoid the spread of disease, transportation systems grinding to a halt and demand for emergency services and public health interventions skyrocketing. Indeed, they suggested, pandemic preparation was essential to any responsible plan for renewing the U.S. economy.
But former White House political czar Karl Rove and key congressional Republicans — led by Maine Senator Susan Collins — aggressively attacked the notion that there was a connection between pandemic preparation and economic recovery.
The Porkulus bill was supposed to be about economic recovery. If they wanted more money for pandemic preparedness it should have been done during the normal appropriations process.
On a related note, President Obama, who isn’t one to let a good swine flu crisis go to waste, has used this opportunity to announce his plans to spend over 3% of US GDP on investment in science. You know, because he hasn’t spent enough of our money yet, and if he can only spend more of our money we’ll finally find that utopia we’ve all dreamed about.
Give me a break!
Update:Even if the democrats had their way and included $900 million in the Porkulus bill for pandemic preparedness, how on earth would they have used those funds in time for this outbreak when the administration still hasn’t staffed the Department of Health and Human Services?
