Posted on 01/29/2003 7:57:13 AM PST by TLBSHOW
Bush Asks for $15 Billion to Fight AIDS in Africa
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush, under fire from AIDS groups for what they call his neglect of the epidemic, asked Congress Tuesday to triple AIDS spending in Africa and Haiti to $15 billion over five years.
The announcement, made in his annual State of the Union Address, took AIDS campaigners by surprise, but they quickly both welcomed the plan and expressed skepticism about it.
"I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years, including nearly $10 billion in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean," Bush said.
"This comprehensive plan will prevent 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 million people with life-extending drugs and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS and for children orphaned by AIDS," Bush added.
On its Internet web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov, the White House said the plan would target Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
It said the plan calls for the United States to work with private groups and governments to "put in place a comprehensive plan for diagnosing, preventing and treating AIDS."
Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, welcomed what he called "the first dramatic signal from the U.S. administration that it is now ready to confront the pandemic and to save or prolong millions of lives."
"It opens the floodgates of hope. Most importantly, it issues a challenge to every other member of the G7 to follow suit," he said in South Africa after a tour of the region.
The Physicians for Human Rights, which campaigns on a range of issues from land mines to HIV, last week urged Bush to increase global AIDS spending to $3.5 billion a year.
"This is totally unexpected," John Heffernan, a spokesman for the group, said in a telephone interview. "We applaud it. It really is an extraordinary commitment that clearly shows that the United States is serious about combating AIDS."
The Global AIDS Alliance welcomed the news but worried that the Bush administration could be competing with existing AIDS funds, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The United States has been accused of not putting its fair share into the Fund.
"In the (White House) fact sheet it said only $1 billion of the 10 billion in new money will go to the Global Fund," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance. "We are very concerned that will leave the fund vastly underfunded and undermine its success."
A SLOW START?
Zeitz also said it looked like the program would start out slowly, with just $2 billion allocated for next year.
The International Association for Physicians in AIDS Care said it would closely watch what would be done with the money, if Congress approved it. "The devil is in the details," said Scott Wolfe, a spokesman for the group. But he also strongly welcomed the move, adding, "We call on other global leaders to step up and demonstrate similar commitments."
More than 36 million people are infected with the virus that causes AIDS -- 25 million in Africa alone. The United Nations predicts AIDS will kill 70 million people in the next 20 years unless rich nations step up efforts.
Bush noted this. "There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the infection," he said. "More than 4 million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims -- only 50,000 -- are receiving the medicine they need."
There is no cure for AIDS but a cocktail of expensive drugs known as anti-retrovirals can keep disease at bay. Campaigners have been angered that such drugs are available in rich nations but not to the countries hardest hit by the epidemic.
"AIDS can be prevented," Bush said. "Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 a year, which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp."
The new Senate majority leader, Tennessee Republican Bill Frist, nodded and smiled as Bush spoke. Frist, a medical doctor, does frequent volunteer work in Africa.
"It's unprecedented. It is huge. And of everything he said tonight, it has the capacity to save more lives in this country I would say, but also globally, than anything else said," Frist told CNN.
--- there's nothing unconstitutional about the Federal Government providing foreign aid if the appropriations are authorized through our Constitutionally proscribed process of legislation, executive approval and judicial review.
So you claim, but where is this power so delegated? -- See the 10th, if you cannot find it.
The problem with American foreign aid is that it is currently being embezzled by institutions and criminals with no fealty to helping the people and societies toward which we target our generosity, and thus there is no ROI in American security and prosperity, or our God-ordained obligation to humanity. Foreign aid, as operated by the UN and the International mobsters, is being used in direct contravention to our interests. If the AIDS program bypasses these criminal conspiracies, that's a win for humanity and for America's security.
A program of this moral priority is untouchable, no despot or corrupt bureaucracy can interfere, and the power of despots and corrupt international bureaucracies will be eroded. That's a win-win.
My rights come from God. I choose which rights and prerogatives that I cede to my political institutions and leaders.
Sorry arnie, that choice has been made. You can try for Amendments of course.
If I think foreign aid is a good strategy to enhance my safety and security, and that of my tribe - I'll enable my Reps to use our American process to make it happen. When I think foreign aid is no longer a tool to promote my individual or group benefit, I'll work to yank it through the same process.
The 'process' being democratic majority rule. Thank you arnie.
The Constitution is primarily about the processes, consensus and safeguards to ensure MY individual political priorities have widespread support and wisdom. This AIDS initiative will have overwhelming American support, and if it is designed, funded, judicially reviewed in a Constitutionally legitimate way and executed in a logistically ethical and effective way, it'll be Constitutional on its face.
Finding 'penumbras' to support your wisdom arnie?
The debate whether the initiative is good policy and maximizes American long-term interest is another debate entirely, and one worth having. There is no inherent Constitutional issue here.
You have offered no basis for your claim. Congress is not delegated the authority to pay for such 'foreign aid'.
I'm still waiting for you to PROVE that assertion...
I got time...
I use the political process to pursue my priorities. My priority, right now, is to keep bad guys from killing me, my family, my neighbors and my countrymates. If you've seen a mouse in your den, don't wait for him to come back, go find his nest, there's probably a few buddies on location. Clean up the places in your house, your yard, your city that give mice food and shelter. This is cleaning up the places that support the Islamist vermin before they come in the house.
You need to re-read the American owner's manual, Joe. If you want to be left alone, you need to use political and judicial tools to fend off those who think your property is useful for their priorities.
The world is what it is: Dangerous, murder-ready and planning on coming to a town near you. I'm looking to nip that little caper at the root, and stabilizing cesspools of corruption is a vital part of that endeavor. If you don't want to pay for it ... well, find enough Americans and their political Reps to vote it down. Contest the Constitutionality in court. Or, don't pay your taxes in a principled protest. Best of luck to you in all those endeavors.
Are you saying that Bubba-2 has no convictions or principles of his own,and that he is so stupid that he has to follow the orders of his lackeys? Damn,maybe I should start calling him "Gore-2"?
Rove cares nothing about right or wrong.
And of course,Bubba-2 being a direct descendant of Gawd and all DOES know right from wrong,and is just going along with this because he has been hypnotized by his evil handlers?
All he cares about is political manipulation in order to win elections, period, no matter what the cost in national treasure and principle.
"He" who? Are you talking about Bubba-2 here or his sidekick? Sometimes it's hard to tell.
He is no different from Carvile, and sadly, W is falling for it.
He is exactly like Carville,and Bubba-2 is exactly like Bubba-1,but does a better job of faking sincerity.
If you don't like the policy, don't vote for politicians who would make this a codified and funded program. Contest it in court, see if the AIDS funding is legal. It is. Just don't say the 10th Amendment prohibits EVERY act of Congress - that's the laziest of the Libertarian dogmas and it is garbage.
You are far, far too literal and constraining in your understanding of the Constitution. All implied powers necessary and proper to carrying out express powers are legitimate.
Funny how you find no such 'implied powers' when penumbras are mentioned, kevin. - in effect, you have just admitted your socialistic, democratic views about legitimate power. Thanks. this is a keeper.
The President is charged with defending the United States and pursuing its foreign policy to the benefit of the people of the United States. If the efficient pursuit of those goals requires the expenditure of money via foreign aid, then foreign aid is fully constitutional.
Simple absolutist 'statist' argument kevin. The prez has no such 'foreign aid' power granted to him. Show me where this 'penumbra' you see, -- is located in the document.
The elegant and meticulously debated set of institutional protections, safeguards and balances woven into the Constitution were designed with the understanding that any document that only addressed the realities and priorities of 1785 would be anachronistic immediately upon passage. The beauty of the Constitution is that it was designed EXPRESSLY to process, manage and guard from excess a Federal Government response to an evolving world and its challenges. Continental Congressmen were humble and wise, they understood that they could never anticipate and address every contingent and evolving challenge that would face a future American society and citizenry. They built in an upgrade path. They operated on a little higher plateau of Maslow's pyramid than you do, tpaine. Thank God.
If you don't want to pitch in to protect the lives and communities of the American group, then get the eff out of the way please. You and your ilk have no scintilla of the courage, character and commitment the founders had. Madison, Washington, Clinton, Adams et al would hold the Libertarian debate society here on FR with the same disdain and contempt most of us here do. Mewlings about the unonstitutionality of Foreign Aid is just playing with yourself.
I see the countenance of Bush, Blair, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice, Ashcroft, Ridge and Cheney. These people aren't screwing around, this is heavy shit we're in right now.
I'm in a "what can I do?" mode, because I know this is life and death vital. We're under attack. We're gonna take out the garbage, God willing. You just keep mumbling in the corner.
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