I'm not even going to write a title for this post. I figure you could just read the keywords and figure it out for yourselves...
Don't mistake me for some kind of investigative journalist, because I am not. I am a concerned citizen- with an internet connection. I simply took a news headline (at the prompting of a friend) and decided to learn more about the issue at hand. The information that appears belows is some of my initial finding.
I have to start with this wayward title that appeared on the CBS News website that reads "
Bush Seeks $30B To Fight AIDS In Africa". Now, I've read
Bush's speech from May 30th, and though the
PEPFAR program sees most of its funding going to African countries, the countries of Haiti and Vietnam are also "
focus countries". CBS, you can't just insert any which words you want. (They added the "In Africa" part.)
However, something Bush said did strike me:
"The statistics and dollar amounts I've cited in the fight against HIV/AIDS are significant. But the scale of this effort is not measured in numbers. This is really a story of the human spirit and the goodness of human hearts. Once again, the generosity of the American people is one of the great untold stories of our time. Our citizens are offering comfort to millions who suffer, and restoring hope to those who feel forsaken."
I should ask the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan how they feel about America's generosity.
This request for Congress to approve $30B in funds is actually a renewal request. (
Original bill passed in Senate and house here.) The first time around, Congress allowed $15B for the
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (with the initials of the six words making the acronym). The request for twice the funds, albeit noble, does seem to be partially political. Now that the Democrats own the majorities in both houses of Congress, this is partly an attempt on the Bush Admin's part to force Congress to play nice with him in the schoolyard. But this is just a minor point.
It's not like the United States has spent all of
the original $15B anyways.
There's also a bit of a scandal- but what in the BushCo regime isn't these days anyways? The Bush Family has ties with many pharmaceutical companies, including
Eli Lilly. Then there's the issue of the man who was appointed
United States Director of Foreign Assistance.
Randall Tobias used to be the CEO of Eli Lilly (but certainly not the first person to get a government position based on his ties with BushCo). He resigned a couple of months ago after being linked to the recent DC Madame scandal.
There's also the underlying idea that some big business stand to profit from the renewal of this program. It is an AIDS program, and AIDS programs are made of three things: bloated, inefficient bureaucracy, small clinics in the villages, and medicines. The
health care industry is known to favor the Republicans, who in turn, favor them. But you know who else stands to profit? Faith-based and community organizations. Bush created the
White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, which is just a way for the conservatives in America to get religion involved with government. There's even a
FBCI within the Department of Homeland Security.
Finally, there's the small issue of PEPFAR's requirement that "33 percent of prevention funds appropriated pursuant to the act be spent on abstinence-until-marriage" (
from here). Though that number has been an issue for
complaint, it should be noted that only 20% of the funds go towards prevention anyways, resulting in only 7% of total funds to meet this requirement.
So, there's a lot of hope for the future, but much like everything else that is tied to the American government, there is scandal and controversy that serves to undercut that hope. An idea that appears to be universal for humanity (a global fight against the spread of AIDS/HIV) has become yet another political issue. As long as the public remains apathetic and ignorant, this game will continue. Some people win, but we all lose.
Labels: aid, bush, issues
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