GOP Attacked Pandemic Flu Preparation in Stimulus Bill

Seriously, is there anything the GOP can't screw up right about now?

When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year's emergency stimulus bill, he was ridiculed by conservative operatives and congressional Republicans.

Obey and other advocates for the spending argued, correctly, that a pandemic hitting in the midst of an economic downturn could turn a recession into something far worse -- with workers ordered to remain in their homes, workplaces shuttered to avoid the spread of disease, transportation systems grinding to a halt and demand for emergency services and public health interventions skyrocketing. Indeed, they suggested, pandemic preparation was essential to any responsible plan for renewing the U.S. economy.

But former White House political czar Karl Rove and key congressional Republicans -- led by Maine Senator Susan Collins -- aggressively attacked the notion that there was a connection between pandemic preparation and economic recovery.

Now, as the World Health Organization says a deadly swine flu outbreak that apparently began in Mexico but has spread to the United States has the potential to develop into a pandemic, Obey's attempt to secure the money seems eerily prescient.

And his partisan attacks on his efforts seem not just creepy, but dangerous.

Not to give short shrift to how completely idiotic they've been over the last few months, but the GOP really seems to be caught in the perfect storm of bad luck and bad timing.

• Bobby Jindal mocks volcano monitoring in his roundly panned speech a few weeks back ...and... a volcano blows up in Alaska!
  
• GOP leaders mock spending on pandemic preparation ...and... the swine flu breaks out in Mexico!
  

As I noted in the last post, I wonder how long it takes them to come up with a way to blame swine flu on Obama?

Update: Paul Krugman and I apparently share some kind of Vulcan mind meld:

So Bobby Jindal makes fun of “volcano monitoring”, and soon afterwards Mt. Redoubt erupts. Susan Collins makes sure that funds for pandemic protection are stripped from the stimulus bill, and the swine quickly attack.

What else did the right oppose recently? I just want enough information to take cover.

OMG! Does this mean I now understand economics!?