Fox cares about this President's golfing habits, all of the sudden?
Was he supposed to stay indoors today as to not catch the flu?
He was after in DC, and on an Army Base in fact.
Do they think that the President's Homeland Secretary needed him to micromanage the presser while chained at his desk? Or can no one talk to the public but the President? Guess?
Perhaps they haven't gotten wind of this yet;
GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness posted by John Nichols on 04/26/2009 @ 12:50pm
arguments former White House political czar Karl Rove advanced in February to frame opposition to the stimulus package Obey crafted in the House.
Rove dismissed Obey's proposals as "disturbing" and "laden with new spending programs." He said the congressman was peddling a plan based on "deeply flawed assumptions."
Like what?
Rove specifically complained that Obey's proposal included "$462 million for the Centers for Disease Control, and $900 million for pandemic flu preparations."
This was wrong, the political operative charged, because the health care sector added jobs in 2008.
As bizarre as that criticism may sound -- especially now -- Rove's argument was picked up by House and Senate Republicans, who made it an essential message in their attacks on the legislation. Even as Rove and his compatriots argued that a stimulus bill should include initiatives designed to shore-up and maintain any recovery, they consistently, and loudly, objected to spending money to address the potentially devastating economic impact of a major public health emergency.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/430261?rel=hp_picks House-passed stimulus bill includes pandemic fundingLisa Schnirring and Robert Roos * Staff Writers
Jan 29, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Yesterday the US House of Representatives passed an $819 billion economic stimulus bill that included funding for pandemic influenza and bioterrorism countermeasures, and now the Senate will debate its version of the measure, which also includes spending on some of the same items.
President Barack Obama and several Democratic legislators have hailed the public health spending provisions as a way to create jobs and boost the productivity of the American workforce. However, some lawmakers oppose spending provisions, particularly those aimed at government departments.
The House bill includes $900 million for biomedical advanced research and development, pandemic flu, and cyber security to help the nation better prevent or respond to a natural or man-made biological threat, according to a Jan 15 statement from Trust for America's Health (TFAH), a nonprofit health advocacy group in Washington, DC.
The House plan also includes $3 billion for disease prevention, including funding for state and local health departments and immunization programs, and $20 billion for health information technology.
Jeff Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH, said in the statement, "This is an unprecedented one-time investment in public health." In 2008, a TFAH expert panel reported that the country faces annual $20 billion shortfalls in critical public health program funding across state, local, and federal levels.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/jan2909stimulus-jw.html Stimulus bill headed for passage minus pandemic fundsRobert Roos News Editor
Feb 13, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – With money for pandemic influenza preparedness stripped from a huge economic stimulus bill that appears headed for final congressional approval, public health advocates say they have to look to the regular budgeting process for the next chance to get some pandemic funding.
The House of Representatives had included $900 million in pandemic preparedness funds in its version of the massive stimulus package, but it appeared that all but $50 million was removed by the conference committee that ironed out differences between the House and Senate versions, said Richard Hamburg, government relations director for the nonpartisan, nonprofit group Trust for America's Health (TFAH).
The House passed the $787 billion compromise bill this afternoon by a vote of 246-183, with no Republican support, the New York Times reported. The story said the Senate was expected to approve the measure this evening.
The $50 million left in the bill, listed as a Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, is for improving information technology security at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Hamburg said. The sums removed included $420 million for pandemic flu and $430 million for biomedical advanced research and development, he reported.
Now it's back to the regular budget process for those seeking pandemic and other public health preparedness funds, leaders of public health groups say.
"Hopefully in the president's budget for 2010 there will again be funding and decisions about funding for preparedness," said Robert (Bobby) Pestronk, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. The Obama administration is expected to propose its 2010 budget soon.
Nothing left in pipeline
Hamburg said there is no more pandemic preparedness money in the pipeline for state and local public health. "The $600 million that was made available in December 2005, in the fiscal year 2006 emergency supplemental bill, the last of those dollars went out the door this past August," he said.
In addition to the cutoff of pandemic flu funding, public health agencies have seen their "all hazards" preparedness funding drop about 25% since 2005, Hamburg said.
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/feb1309funding.html from January 28, 2009
What One GOP Congressman Thinks of Senate Stimulus Package
3. The vast majority of spending in this bill has nothing to do with stimulating the economy but rather increasing government social programs.
q) $900 million in additional funds to prepare for the pandemic flu.
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2009/01/what-one-gop-congressman-thinks-of-senate-stimulus-package.html From February 5th Wall Street Journal article
After meeting with Mr. Obama, Sen. Collins expressed concern about a number of spending provisions, including $780 million for pandemic-flu preparedness.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123376269235148125.htmlMeanwhile, Secessionist Rick Perry, Governor of Texas is asking the Feds for Flu money!
Gov. Rick Perry today in a precautionary measure requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide 37,430 courses of antiviral medications from the Strategic National Stockpile to Texas to prevent the spread of swine flu. Currently, three cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Texas.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/26/tx-perry-swine-flu/
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