“And the other side is not.”
Long criticized for neglecting disease in the developing world, the United States has tripled funding for combating AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Signed into law yesterday by President Bush, the plan allots $48 billion over the next five years for disease treatment and research. It builds on the five-year, $15 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which earned Bush praise for acknowledging the AIDS epidemic — two million deaths last year, most in sub-Saharan Africa — and condemnation for ignoring other, equally pressing diseases.
Malaria kills approximately one million people each year. Tuberculosis kills another 1.5 million, and the evolution of extensively drug-resistant strains has raised the possibility of widespread, highly-lethal outbreaks in the developed world.
Liberals and conservatives alike applauded the Bush-backed bill, and Democrats gave the President a rare kudos for his initiative. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware), told the Associated Press that PEPFAR was “the single most significant thing the President has done,” saying it would save hundreds of thousands of lives — and the new legislation is even more ambitious.
The legislation “is our compact with developing nations across the globe,” said Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, in a statement last week. “It says that America stands with them in this fight, that our commitment will not waver, and shows them America’s true facge of compassion.”
The bill earned overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Among the objectors was Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), who after the Senate voted told the Washington Post that the plan, which accounts for roughly one-half of one percent of the U.S. budget, is too generous.
“There should be a limit,” he said. “It’s one thing to say you’ll support it at $15 billion; it’s another thing to say you’ll support it at $35 billion. To me, it’s entirely another thing to support it at $50 billion.”
Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/bush-triples-fu/#ixzz13tBUUo6u
Whatever you think of the Bush bill, strictly on the facts, this shows Obama is a liar. Again.
I don't know, maybe he's not lying. Maybe obama doesn't understand how the US government works. After all, before he was elected president, he only served in the senate for what, two years? Maybe he doesn't understand that the house of representatives, which has been controlled by the dems since what, 2006, is where all finance bills must start. Once passed by the dem controlled house, the bill then has to be passed by the dem controlled senate. Finally, the dem President of the US has to sign the bill into law.
So maybe he just doesn't understand that "the other side," which might be the republicans, or maybe just the citizens of the United States, aren't the ones who pass funding bills like the one's he's trying to slack off on... After all, he's only the President of the United States. It's not like he's got the "bully pulpit" or any sort of power. He's just a community organizer who's misunderstood and confused.
Mark