WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama is asking Congress for $1.5 billion to fight the current swine flu outbreak.
In a letter to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the president made the request "at an abundance of caution," and said the funds should be "provided with maximum flexibility to allow us to address this emerging situation."
He also suggested the supplementing of anti-viral stockpiles, and assisting international efforts to stem the outbreak could be good uses of the funds. He added that his administration has "carefully been monitoring the situation, coordinating state and local responses, assessing the risk here in the United States and cooperating with international organizations and health officials around the globe."
Robert Gibbs, Obama's press secretary, read the letter to reporters at the beginning of Tuesday's White House press briefing.
From CNN Politics
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Maybe that $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs that was in the stimulus wasn't as big a waste as the Republicans said.
Maybe we really should look at disposal of waste on Hog Farms.
Ya Think?
Ok, anti- spending folks, I know its hard but please think. It takes money to mass produce vaccines and medicine, takes money to quarantine and screen massive amounts of people, takes money to have nurses and doctors work tons of overtime- sometimes pending is necessary by the people who are there to protect us and CAN FIX things. Don't say no no no just for the sake of saying no.
I want to know where & how the money is to be spent instead of just giving him a blank check.
How could "the money" - whatever that means - have been asked for in the original spending bill when the outbreak just started last week?
FYI: This is funding which was previously requested for the exact same reasons and the GOP turned it down.
I would first like to say to all of the pigs and birds out there that Hillary will apologize for the arrogant United States causing all of these problems. I agree with Al Gore that it is probably caused by global warming and that the best way to handle it woudl be a cap & trade policy.
If $1.8 Billion is wasted on this flu... then it must be removed from SOMEWHERE in the budget.
This is getting absolutely ridiculous how QUICKLY and EASILY Obama calls for B-I-L-L-I-O-N-S.
To P. Y – because the dems had the foresight to think ahead, Its called good governing. The repubs, being that they don't care about silly little things like pandemics, demanded it be taken out of the stimulus. FACT.
Question: How many people need to get sick for Obama to take this epidemic seriously?
Answer: One. Unfortunately, that person's name is Barack Obama.