Now to the US. Clearly Texas has been a clear case of "dumb and dumber". All those who touched this issue demonstrated their ineptness and lack of preparedness. Yet it seems that certain commentators want to make this even more political. Take for example the Left wing blog, Syndicate, whose commentator states:
But, as recent events have illustrated,
robust health agencies should not be taken for granted. In fact, over
the past decade, the government has slashed budgets at several top
health agencies, including the CDC, the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), and state and local health departments. Between 2005 and 2012,
for example, the CDC lost 17% of its funding,
and officials recently reported that funding allocated for Ebola-type
health emergencies is $1 billion less than it was in 2003.
Now if we go back a century to the early 20th we see such massive outbreaks of TB and Influenza, much less of a budget but highly competent Public Health people. I recall my grandmother's tales of Seaview Hospital on Staten Island, the NY City TB sanatorium, the City was prepared, the professionals trained and the outbreak controlled. Massive numbers in New York were subject to a plethora of deadly diseases which were handled locally. New York survived. There was no Federal help since it did not exist, it was Harding and Coolidge.
Yet this author in classic Progressive manners take on the budget cuts as the cause of the problem. The problem arose by what appears to be a deficit in Medical expertise, mistakes, and mishandling. In addition the Federal authorities exacerbated the problem.
This same author continues:
The NIH, which funds important advances in
our understanding and treatment of diseases like Ebola, has also
suffered cutbacks. Its budget
has stagnated for most of the past decade, except for years when it was
dramatically reduced, such as in 2013. This has forced productive
research laboratories to close, putting potentially life-saving research
– like that on an Ebola vaccine – on the back burner.
Now the problem with Ebola was that it just was not a problem. There were small outbreaks and all generally were controlled. Here in the current situation we have a different problem, one of massive defects in the US system, for which no more money would ever solve. It is akin to just washing one's hands.
This Syndicate piece lacks in my opinion any credibility and just adds more political gasoline to the fire. It is a shame.
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