Susan Collins, Republicans Early Victims of Pandemic Politics

The Huffington Post is reporting that the GOP, led by Susan Collins, stripped $870 million in funding for flu pandemic preparedness from the stimulus bill. The report is accompanied by this damning package of clips from Media Matters:



Both HuffPo and Collins also criticized the holdup of Kathleen Sebelius' nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services due to pressure from anti-abortion groups.

Both of these facts seem pretty damaging to the Republicans. However, when asked about the funding during today's White House Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs downplayed its significance to the current outbreak, pointing instead to funding that was passed in 2006.

He was also asked, several times, if the vacancy at HHS was any sort of hindrance, which he flatly denied.

Collins also released a statement to Politico defending her record on flu preparedness, calling attacks on her "politically motivated."

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Gibbs was right to avoid this line of thinking. With the threat from swine flu still emerging, and people dying, it's unseemly at best to try and score political points here. If Collins had a good-faith objection to the funding's inclusion in the stimulus bill, but sought it elsewhere as she claims, this isn't even a fair attack.

The bottom line is, stripping the funding and holding up Sebelius' confirmation were bad ideas before the swine flu, and they still are, but as Gibbs pointed out, they are not related to it. Since Collins is "one of the good ones," a moderate who was one of only 3 Republicans to vote for the stimulus, maybe we shouldn't be so quick to demonize her.

Tommy on: Daily Dose:

• The Republicans' First 100 Days
• Pork: The Other Diseased Meat
• Conservatives Defend The New York Times


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