This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Politicians Try to Make Ebola a Partisan Issue for the Upcoming Election … But BOTH Parties Dropped the Ball
The Dallas Morning News notes:
The political blame game over the deadly Ebola virus is in full swing just weeks before the November elections — with each side ignoring the facts.
In reality, both sides have dropped the ball.
Democrats
For example, Democrats are trying to blame Republicans for budget cuts to the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC has had its budget slashed.
But Huffington Post notes that Obama also pushed for CDC cuts. And McClatchy points out that both parties cut budgets for health.
Obama also largely ignored CDC’s recommendations for setting up Ebola centers around the world.
In addition, the health agencies have squandered money. For example, the Federalist notes:
A 2012 report on federal spending including the following nuggets about how NIH spends its supposedly tight funds:
- a $702,558 grant for the study of the impact of televisions and gas generators on villages in Vietnam.
- $175,587 to the University of Kentucky to study the impact of cocaine on the sex drive of Japanese quail.
- $55,382 to study hookah smoking in Jordan.
- $592,527 to study why chimpanzees throw objects.
Last year there were news reports about a $509,840 grant from NIH to pay for a study that will send text messages in “gay lingo” to meth-heads. There are many other shake-your-head examples of misguided spending that are easy to find.
The Daily Mail adds:
- The NIH budget included $2.4 million for a new condom design whose inventor is now being investigated for fraud [The article explains: " 'Origami Condom' creator Daniel Resnic is accused of spending NIH grant dollars on cosmetic surgery, a Playboy Mansion party and exotic trips, and using his friends as informal research subjects instead of holding a controlled human trial"]
- Another $939,000 taught scientists that male fruit flies prefer younger females
- $257,000 went to create a companion website for first lady Michelle Obama’s White House garden
- It cost $592,000 to determine that chimpanzees with the best poop-flinging skills are also the best communicators, and another $117,000 to learn that most chimps are right-handed
Indeed, some worry that the head of the Centers for Disease Control is more focused on stopping soda than deadly diseases.
This is very similar to all of the wasted defense spending.
Republicans
Republicans blame the Democratic president and his Democratic CDC director for their failure to stop Ebola. And they have been doing an absolutely horrible job.
However, private healthcare - championed by Republicans - has been an absolute train wreck in dealing with Ebola.
Additionally, managers of the private hospitals are gagging the nurses, so they can't say what's really going wrong. For example:
In a Washington Post story on October 12, about how many US hospitals seem not well prepared for Ebola infected patients, appeared this from Bonnie Castillo, director of Registered Nurse Response Network, part of the union, National Nurses United,
Castillo said the union has been trying to contact nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, where Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola, died Wednesday.
‘That hospital has issued a directive to all hospital staff not to speak to press,’ Castillo said. ‘That is a grave concern because we need to hear from those front-line workers. We need to hear what happened there. … They have them on real lockdown. There is great fear. This hospital is not represented by a union. Our sense is they are afraid to speak out.’
The Los Angeles Times story included,
The Dallas nurses asked the union to read their statement so they could air complaints anonymously and without fear of losing their jobs, National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said from Oakland.
***
The AP story of October 15 stated,
The Presbyterian nurses are not represented by Nurses United or any other union. DeMoro and Burger said the nurses claimed they had been warned by the hospital not to speak to reporters or they would be fired. ***
Covering up information vitally needed by health care professionals, other institutions, the government, etc to better manage a potentially fatal disease that is already epidemic in other countries appears completely unethical. Doing so to preserve the reputation of managers seems reprehensible. But the implication of the recent stories is that is what happened.
Moreover, health experts say that local governments have the ultimate authority to make decisions on handling Ebola and overseeing hospitals in their area. The CDC can set protocols – which are widely followed. But it is the local governments which have the power to actually issue orders.
Conservatives are against big government, and think that power should devolve to state and local governments. But so far – at least in dealing with Ebola – local governments like Dallas have done a horrible job.
Updates: STUDY: 3-Week Quarantine Period Not Long Enough...
Nurse May Have Had Symptoms While Flying
- advertisements -
GW - C'mon 'bro.. a bit of perspective.
Sure, Crybaby Boehner just sits there and Bytch McConnell is no where, but the policies of the Obola admin are the height of incompetence in both theory and practice. Let's not even waste time speaking of implementaiton.
Of course it is apparent that the refusal to block all fights carrying anyone whose trip originated in the 3 affected countries is ideology based. It would be against the Open borders policy illegally pursued by the latent, bitter and twisted racists - Obama, Holder and Johnson. That is how ideologically driven and equally insane te Obola admin is.
And unfortunately the DEM party supports Obola 100%. So again... some perspective please.
"Conservatives are against big government, and think that power should devolve to state and local governments. But so far – at least in dealing with Ebola – local governments like Dallas have done a horrible job."
The mayor of Dallas is a Democrat.
BS on both parties dropped the ball.
Politically correct dimocrat sycophants have infested all the bureaucracies in the last several decades.
The republicrats have only dropped the ball by being eunochs.
The dims own 0bola, Endovirus d68, and the scandals in IRS, Fast and Furious, HHS, HS, ISIS, DOL, DOJ, DOE, DOA, etc.etc.etc...
Here is my release Source Term, based on measured data.
We were all heavily dosed as the President ran to South America.
All theHere is my release Source Term, based on measured data.
We were all heavily dosed as the President ran to South America.
All they had to do was say stay out of the rain. How many millions will die from that negligence?
That said, be aware of the tens of tons of radioactive materials that were burnt and blown into the jet stream from Fukushima.
Using EPA air data from measuring stations in Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, Marianna Islands, California, and Washington, the densities in air multiplied by the volume of air indicates that around
195 tons of uranium, and percentages of that is plutonium, cesium, strontium, all the usual suspects.
All the raw data and calculations are at Nukeproffesional here
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/p/uranium-aerosolized-into-atmosphere.htmly had to do was say stay out of the rain. How many millions will die from that negligence?
That said, be aware of the tens of tons of radioactive materials that were burnt and blown into the jet stream from Fukushima.
Using EPA air data from measuring stations in Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, Marianna Islands, California, and Washington, the densities in air multiplied by the volume of air indicates that around
195 tons of uranium, and percentages of that is plutonium, cesium, strontium, all the usual suspects.
All the raw data and calculations are at Nukeproffesional here
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/p/uranium-aerosolized-into-atmosphere.html
Read these George, they will help explain why they have dropped the ball.
http://www.principia-scientific.org/u-s-government-claims-exclusive-ownership-over-its-invention-of-ebola.html
http://www.principia-scientific.org/doctor-u-s-army-rejected-successful-ebola-drug-2-weeks-before-outbreak.html
Our government is institutionally incompetent at essentially all levels. They have ceased trying to serve the public and blame it on the public I suspect.
Goerge did you see artical in nyt about fbi complaining about some services are blocking thier efforts on spying on the public? I suspect they are trying to make foolish people believe that there are such secure services which in fact only serve as a conduit to nsa monitoring.
GEORGE WASHINGTON you are so full of shit.
Quoting two Conervative Newspapers who are anti Government spending, duh!
All science is good science.
Because it leads to more disovery
Republicans have cut science funds for CDC and NIH since 2001.
Time and Again. Its no contest.
Its Republican's first demand: cut CDC and cut NIH.
Yo Ken ... you Kunt.... do a modicum of research. The House approved an increase in funds for CDC thi spast year higher than what the Obola admin had requested.
Since neither side of the aisle has given us good government in over 50 years, I'm not surprised that neither side can get it right now. After all, they've been "practicing".
The Truth Behind the Film Kill the Messenger and Gary Webb:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcArA8D9KLw
Like Slowly Boiling Frogs: Ebola Plan Proceeding on Schedule:
http://winteractionables.com/?p=15670
You know, every member of both parties should have a long drop on a short rope.
Just kidding, heh heh.
No need to spend so much money to find out why chimps throw things. Just ask one. Preferably just after he's thrown a golf club.
Sorry George, bad timing. Get your tin foil hat back on, shit just got real. Now your pro.
Speaking of Ebola as "partisan issue:"
http://www.mtlblog.com/2014/10/smoking-marijuana-can-protect-you-from-eb...
Smoking Marijuana Can Protect You From EbolaBy Michael D'Alimonte · October 16, 2014
... What makes Ebola deadly is the way in which one’s immune system reacts as time goes on. Aside from creating hemorrhaging and leaking between cells, Ebola primarily kills when a person’s body releases a massive amount of enzymes (a cytokine storm) and an overabundant, and fatal amount, of immune cells being activated.
That’s where marijuana comes in as a potential saving grace to those afflicted with Ebola. ... cannabis is contains natural antiretrovirals and is also an anti-inflammatory able to reduce the harm to the body caused by a cytokine storm. ...
P.S.
"chimpanzees with the best poop-flinging skills are also the best communicators" ... Indeed, we have become apes with atomic bombs, backing electronic monkey money.
GW - Please ask one of the Tylers to fix the
stupid Sponsored Financial Content
box that refuses to scroll with the rest of the page and just covered up most of WB7's fine art.
I'd like to see it all and the fuckingboxthatfollowsme everywhere istaking a tollllllllllll.
?Ctrl?- fixes that.
http://dlvr.it/7DXzz0
A rather damning article on the CDC and that we could really be dealing with something much worse and far more contagious.
Excellent article on the history of Ebola- thanks!
http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/16/obama-i-kissed-the-ebola-nurses/
Yes, it can, Bath House, but you already took it up the ass so don't worry about the balls.
thx
... needed that ...
Love the card...lol.
And an observation, the one constant with Czars is, they always loot the public treasury to benefit themselves and their oligarch cronies and it doesn't matter where they're from or language they speak.
Its like a universal truth or sumpin ;-)
it reminds me how difficult it was for the Soviet Union to produce enough toilet paper. Nobody wanted to be the Toilet Paper "Czar"
And yet, the czars & oligarchs never ran out of toilet paper.
Only the common people did ;-)
Nice. It's a Three Ring Circus.
The CDC with its Insanely Funny Funding Chimps To Throw Things While Ignoring The Ebola Problem roadshow is the headliner.
Followed by the Dumbasses in Congress Show Where No Congress Member Has A Clue of How To Get A Grip On CDC Stupidity And Gross Incompetence.
Lastly we have the Mr. President Finale Featuring A President Who Doesn't Know Ebola And Doesn't Care About Ebola.
Ebola is a hoax. Quit feeding the fear factor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZonCVRQ-2s
This one's easy: we either have thousands of people dead from the virus, or we don't. Anyone care to examine the bodies?
Although I agree that a lot of mainstream news these days is simply faked, demonstrating some faked news does not prove that everything is a hoax. But nevertheless, I accept the point that every political issue operates through apparently infinite tunnels of deceits, which would include the Obala Epidemic threats. Since the fundamental structure of social pyramid systems is backing up lies with violence, that makes determination of the "truth" about anything extremely problematic!
"Incompetent , irrelevant and immaterial " Perry Mason
All those investigative reporters are unable to find a nurse or nurses who'll provide information on hospital policies anomalously? So, Obama lies. The CDC lies. The media assists in those lies by making no effort to expose inside information at hospitals or outside medical researchers.
What we have is five branches of government: executive, legislative, judicial, bureaucratic and a media serving the other four. The only thing we can trust is that all five branches are incompetent, venal and destructive.
What is an "investigative reporter?" Are there any in the US, or is that a job in France or something?
infowwars.com is the answer to your question.
Speaking of what one of the four (a bureaucracy) is doing, lets have a look at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service...
Well isn't that special, Duncan was "currently in" the United States and was a foreign national :-/
http://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/ebola-outbreak-related-immigration-relief-measures-nationals-guinea-liberia-and-sierra-leone-currently-united-states
Thanks for posting that info in all your posts above. That was some good research that apparently very few people noticed.
October 2 Frieden said all thats needed is regular ole hospital rooms with a private potty to contain this.
Clearly the very best & brightest are on the case...lol.
I hate the republicans as much as the democrats (mainly b/c they're simply flip sides of the same unfair coin). But holy crap GW, this is a clear failure of leadership. The buck stops at the Oval Office in a national emergency, whether our petulant Dear Leader likes it or not. And your attempt at even handed treatment in a clearly unbalanced situation undercuts your otherwise good posts. Get real man.
We don't have ebola where I come from; nor do we have Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan or any other form of pestilence. But as an outsider I'd say that the ebola thing is a bit overblown. Not so with the Goldman and Morgue problems. If they are allowed to progress unfettered they are going to wipe you out M'Fers.
Congress is not even in session. The president is however able to use his executive order to ban all travel to these affected locations. Maybe Congress should come back and insist on a travel ban just so president Obola could veto it.
That's where we are as this president moves to send the National Guard Reserves over to Africa by wait... executive order. Now then, who exactly is screwing this issue up?
You overlooked something GW...
"What’s particularly interesting about this discussion, then, is that nobody has even discussed the fact that the federal government not ten years ago created and funded a brand new office in the Health and Human Services Department specifically to coordinate preparation for and response to public health threats like Ebola. The woman who heads that office, and reports directly to the HHS secretary, has been mysteriously invisible from the public handling of this threat. And she’s still on the job even though three years ago she was embroiled in a huge scandal of funneling a major stream of funding to a company with ties to a Democratic donor—and away from a company that was developing a treatment now being used on Ebola patients."
"Before the media swallow implausible claims of funding problems, perhaps they could be more skeptical of the idea that government is responsible for solving all of humanity’s problems. Barring that, perhaps the media could at least look at the roles that waste, fraud, mismanagement, and general incompetence play in the repeated failures to solve the problems the feds unrealistically claim they will address. In a world where a>>> $12.5 billion slush fund at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is used to fight the privatization of liquor stores, <<< perhaps we should complain more about mission creep and Progressive faith in the habitually unrealized magic of increased government funding."
At this point you can skip over the multi-million dollar scandal with billionaire Democratic mega-donor Ron Perelman's now bankrupt company Siga (where have we heard this before?) if you like and go straight to moar waste, fraud & abuse in these times of draconian budget cuts & sequester...
I find it interesting the chimps got tons more free cash than hookah smoking Jordanians but hey, thats just me ;-)
http://thefederalist.com/2014/10/14/president-obama-already-has-an-ebola-czar-where-is-she/
Great catch nmewn!
Voted you up!
Its remarkable to me that more people (regardless of party affiliation or ideology) aren't up in arms over shit like this.
Its theft plain and simple.
They are actually stealing from us (by diverting funds from the domestic common good to their own interests) and then coming back later and saying the reason they appear to be completely incompetent and impotent in the face of a "crisis" of their own making (immigration & visa's are federal), is because they don't have enough money? That we deserve to be infected with ebola because we are too miserly?
In a normal world they would all be charged and prosecuted for conspiracy and grand theft but because its government and done under the "color of law" its not theft. Really?
So I guess now their grand plan must be to dress up 3,000 hookah smoking Vietnamese chimpanzee's in SWAT uniforms and send them off to Dallas to hunt quail and watch themselves on TV ;-)
Dammit man, don't given them ideas.
Where can I propose a study of the effects of hot Asian women and hashish on WB7...
...the preliminary research and a hypothesis are required, along with volunteer test subjects. There's this fellow nmewn that might be able help with the application process (which is a long, laborious process, government dontcha know).
For a nominal fee or in-kind payment, of course ;-)
Voting most of the incumbents out is not such a bad idea.
Most? Really? Keep it simple: ALL. OUT. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Let history sort it out.
Could the nurses not be allowd to speak because ebola is a hoax and/or extremely overplayed and having them saying anything might blow their cover?
All this political grandstanding for a few deaths from ebola. Fiddling while Rome burns. Hey look over here!