Another Bush crony put in charge of bird flu preparedness

I got as an email.




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Berkowitz-WFC-Dec 1-Another Bush crony put in charge of bird flu preparedness
Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2005 13:08:10 -0500 (EST)
From: WKBBronx@aol.com
To: xxxxx


http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=19955

Crony in the bird flu seat

Will the public's health be "Brownied" by Stewart Simonson?
By Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange, December 1, 2005
In a high-profile speech at the National Institutes of Health, surrounded by a number of cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Condi Rice, and the Secretaries of Homeland Security, Agriculture, Health & Human Services, Transportation and Veteran Affairs, President Bush warned that H5N1 (commonly known as "Avian Bird Flu") could, in time, reach our shores. "A pandemic is a lot like a fire -- a forest fire," Bush said. "If caught early, it might be extinguished with limited damage. If allowed to smolder undetected, it can grow to an inferno that spreads quickly beyond our ability to control it."

He later asked Congress for $7.1 billion to prepare for a flu epidemic "that health experts believe," San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Lazarus noted, "would likely kill millions."

Skeptics might argue that the President's warning sounds suspiciously like those post 9/11 anthrax scares, and are aimed at taking the public's attention away from the many failures bedeviling his administration. Others may argue that whether the threat is real or not, it is guaranteed to be a boon for the already profit-stuffed pharmaceutical industry. Some may take the president's forewarning of potential disaster at face value.

Whatever your take, a pandemic of the kind currently discussed by public health officials could overwhelm an unprepared health care system, cost billions of dollars and cause an untold number of deaths.

Having performed so wretchedly during the run-up to, and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one might expect that Team Bush would seek out someone fully versed in public health matters to head up the team charged with responding to as huge a potential public health threat as Avian Bird Flu.

Who is in charge of handling significant health care and threats of bioterrorism?

Stewart Simonson.

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=19955>

we're well and truly screwed.

You have to be pretty corrupt to stop caring even about life or death issues like this.