Sheila Jackson Lee is trying to make the case that Republicans are at fault for Ebola, claiming budget cuts have left the Centers for Disease Control unable to respond quickly or effectively enough, why should anyone really be surprised by another ludicrous, and outrageous statement by the ill-informed Sheila Jackson Lee.
Sheila Jackson Lee Blames GOP For Ebola Outbreak, Claiming They Cut Funding To CDC…
SHEILA JACKSON LEE: I’m frustrated we didn’t take the initial encounter in Dallas at the level that it should have been. The county officials have been excellent, but the fractured infrastructure, and understanding what was happening to Mr. Duncan did not translate to those front liners, the nurses and techs and others. That is unfair to them. I’m frustrated with that. I will also say that Center For Disease Control suffers from the continued gridlock in Washington and Republicans not funding fully even though the fight against Ebola is bipartisan, the CDC and NIH has suffered in its funding.’
Perfect. The tax-exempt ”Agenda Project” is airing an ad declaring “Republican cuts kill,” directly blaming Congressional Republicans for the Ebola outbreak:
By the way, it’s not true, National Review’s Jim Geraghty crunched the numbers and proved it:
The NIH budget has doubled since 2000, allocations to the U.S. National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases rose to $4.3 billion in 2004 from $1.8 billion in 2000 . . .
And as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal states:
Consider the Prevention and Public Health Fund, a new series of annual mandatory appropriations created by Obamacare. Over the past five years, the CDC has received just under $3 billion in transfers from the fund. Yet only 6 percent—$180 million—of that $3 billion went toward building epidemiology and laboratory capacity.
From their even-tempered, fair-minded release:
Today the Agenda Project Action Fund launched “Republican Cuts Kill,” a multi-pronged blitzkrieg attack that lays blame for the Ebola crisis exactly where it belongs– at the feet of the Republican lawmakers. Like rabid dogs in a butcher shop, Republicans have indiscriminately shredded everything in their path, including critical programs that could have dealt with the Ebola crisis before it reached our country. Yesterday, a health worker tested positive for the virus– now, the effects of the GOP’s fanatical hatred for our government may finally be exposed.
In launching this effort, we will be the first major progressive group to directly blame GOP budget cuts for the nearly 4,000 deaths caused by the Ebola crisis.
Our plan is to place a paid buy in Kentucky the week of October 18 with North Carolina, Kansas, and South Dakota to follow provided we complete the financing we need.
Alleged Republican budget cuts could serve as the Obama Administration’s all-purpose excuse for its own incompetence and at a critical time with elections coming up. If only they’d had more money, they could have done a better job … so they blame the Republicans. The Obama administration is completely inept and will resort to any tactic to circumvent the blame for their incompetence.
Photo courtesy of Google.com
