Richard Tafoya
Apr 27th, 2009, 07:18 PM
Christian Science Monitor:
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/04/27/swine-flu-as-pork-congress-cut-flu-money-from-stimulus-bill/
The spread of the swine flu is casting new light on a compromise deal to cut $850 million in pandemic preparedness from the Obama administration’s economic recovery package.
In February, when a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators wanted to lop $110 billion off President Obama’s plan, the move generated little controversy: Pandemic preparedness was not seen to be a matter of economic stimulus.
...
Those involved with proposing the cut have found themselves on the defensive, particularly Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine. She negotiated cutting pandemic preparedness funding from the stimulus plan as part of a compromise deal.
But she was hardly alone in singling out pandemic preparedness as unnecessary back in February. Democrats were fighting for every vote they could muster to pass the president’s economic recovery plan. In a bid to rally more GOP votes for the plan, Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York reminded reporters before the Feb. 10 vote that that “all those little porky things that the House put in,” including money for the flu pandemic, were out.
Senator Collins was one of the three Republican swing votes that helped the $779 billion stimulus package narrowly avoid a Senate filibuster.
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/04/27/swine-flu-as-pork-congress-cut-flu-money-from-stimulus-bill/
The spread of the swine flu is casting new light on a compromise deal to cut $850 million in pandemic preparedness from the Obama administration’s economic recovery package.
In February, when a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators wanted to lop $110 billion off President Obama’s plan, the move generated little controversy: Pandemic preparedness was not seen to be a matter of economic stimulus.
...
Those involved with proposing the cut have found themselves on the defensive, particularly Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine. She negotiated cutting pandemic preparedness funding from the stimulus plan as part of a compromise deal.
But she was hardly alone in singling out pandemic preparedness as unnecessary back in February. Democrats were fighting for every vote they could muster to pass the president’s economic recovery plan. In a bid to rally more GOP votes for the plan, Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York reminded reporters before the Feb. 10 vote that that “all those little porky things that the House put in,” including money for the flu pandemic, were out.
Senator Collins was one of the three Republican swing votes that helped the $779 billion stimulus package narrowly avoid a Senate filibuster.