February 4, 2020

Viewpoint: The Trump Administration Has Made the U.S. Less Ready for Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Viewpoint: The Trump Administration Has Made the U.S. Less Ready for Infectious Disease Outbreaks like Coronavirus

The Trump administration has cut funding for infectious disease research and reduced high-level staffing for global health security, leaving the nation less prepared for major outbreaks.

LINDA J. BILMES,THE CONVERSATION | FEBRUARY 3, 2020 01:00 PM ET


As coronavirus continues to spread, the Trump administration has declared a public health emergency and imposed quarantines and travel restrictions. However, over the past three years the administration has weakened the offices in charge of preparing for and preventing this kind of outbreak.

Two years ago, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates warned that the world should be “preparing for a pandemic in the same serious way it prepares for war”. Gates, whose foundation has invested heavily in global health, suggested staging simulations, war games and preparedness exercises to simulate how diseases could spread and to identify the best response.

The Trump administration has done exactly the opposite: It has slashed funding for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its infectious disease research. For fiscal year 2020, Trump proposed cutting the CDC budget by US$1.3 billion, nearly 20% below the 2019 level.

In 2018, Trump tried to cut $65 million from this budget – a 10% reduction. In 2019, he sought a 19% reduction. For 2020, he proposed to cut federal spending on emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases by 20%. This would mean spending $100 million less in 2020 to study how such diseases infect humans than the U.S. did just two years ago.

More:
https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/02/trump-administration-has-made-us-less-ready-infectious-disease-outbreaks-coronavirus/162822/


Republican budget priorities are going to kill us all.

February 2, 2020

Bernie passes Biden in new national poll

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by Hart Research Associates (D) and Public Opinion Strategies (R). Jan. 26-29, 2020. N=428 registered voters nationwide who say they would vote in the Democratic primary or caucus. Margin of error ± 4.7.


"Now, thinking specifically about the 2020 Democratic primary elections: I am going to read a list of twelve of the declared candidates running for the Democratic nomination for president. After I read the entire list, please tell me if a Democratic primary for president were being held today, which one of the following candidates would you favor? [See below.]" If unsure: "Well, which way do you lean?" Options rotated


1/26-29/20 12/14-17/19 10/27-30/19 9/13-16/19 7/7-9/19
% % % % %


Bernie Sanders

27 21 19 14 13

Joe Biden

26 28 27 31 26

Elizabeth Warren

15 18 23 25 19

Michael Bloomberg

9 4 n/a n/a n/a

Pete Buttigieg

7 9 6 7 7

Amy Klobuchar

5 5 5 2 1

Andrew Yang

4 3 3 4 2

Tom Steyer

2 1 - 1 n/a

Tulsi Gabbard

2 2 2 1 -

Deval Patrick

1 - n/a n/a n/a

Michael Bennet

- - 1 1 1

John Delaney

- - - 1 1

None (vol.)

- 1 1 1 2

Unsure

2 5 5 2 8

Cory Booker

n/a 2 2 2 1

Julian Castro

n/a 1 1 1 1

Marianne Williamson

n/a - - - 1

Kamala Harris

n/a n/a 4 5 13


Source:

https://pollingreport.com/2020wh_d.htm