These Senators are not Conservatives....remember that they voted with the Dems on Nobama's Stim Package.

Did you see the WSJ article by Karl Rove? Where he slammed this funding?

As we learned on 9/11, the best way to face a crisis, or potential crisis, is to all unify as Americans, not to let politics divide us.  Politicians do whatever it is they do, primarily for political reasons.  We all understand that. 

But us non-politicians must do what we do for the common good, we do not have to argue amongst ourselves at a time when we need to be sticking together and responding to one another out of what we all share in common---our humanity. 

Politics divide.  Music unites. 

By pushing for pandemic preparedness cuts, Collins helped finish what Vitter started.

Given the recent outbreak of swine flu, Sen. Susan Collins's (R-ME) push to strip funding for pandemic flu preparedness is looking increasingly shortsighted. But Collins was not the first to campaign against the provision. Indeed, several days prior to Collins's public push, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) introduced an amendment that would have stripped, among other things, the flu funding provision. In arguing for his amendment on the floor of the senate, Vitter apparently couldn't fathom how pandemic preparedness could possibly serve to protect the economy, calling it part of a "laundry list of...big government spending items":

VITTER: The Vitter amendment is an attempt to start the important work of cutting out some of the clearly non stimulative parts of this bill. ... [N]eighborhood stabilization, historic preservation, fish and wildlife resource construction, comparative research, the pandemic flu, the smart grid.

People might say: You are not worried about a pandemic flu and the threat that causes to our Nation? I am. That is a serious subject. ... Maybe we need to do more; I do not know. But I do know one thing. That is average spending and typical spending that is nothing to do with job creation and economic stimulus. Yet this bill is littered line after line after line with all of those items. Many are ridiculous. [...]

I hope this vote tonight on the Vitter amendment will be the beginning of fundamentally changing this bill so it is no longer simply a laundry list of traditional Washington, big government spending items.

PANDEMIC???  jumping the gun a tad here are we?

let it play out a few more weeks...pandemics dont happen within a week.

if it really was a pandemic, and, as reported, the source is from Mexico...dont you think our GUBMENT would shut down the border?

hell, who am I kidding....probably close to half a trillion dollars disappeard from the american economy in the last decade due tothe open border policy...why close it now..

its like getting a STD after being raped

Karl Rove IS swine flu amigo....just sit back and watch the finger-pointing and name calling...the Mrs. doctor this morning said for her to wear a face mask for her breathing--last thing she needs is this ca-ca thats going around---and he said that's this bug thats going around is no joke....

But he did say that once this bug gets here...there is nothing you can do to stop it--only prevent it from spreading it to others--( hmm-a hint of common sense )...not in Washington....

Shut down the BORDER?  Just because of flu?  Learnum...are you running a fever?  We can't keep those poor flu carrying people out of here.  If we wouldn't do it for the ecomony we surely won't do it for health.

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/...

WASHINGTON – U.S. officials advised Americans against most travel to Mexico on Monday as a swine flu virus that began there spread to the United States and beyond. With 40 cases now reported in the United States, President Barack Obama said there was reason for concern but not yet "a cause for alarm."

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said that so far the disease in the United States seems less severe than the outbreak in Mexico, where more than 1,600 cases have been reported and where the suspected death toll has climbed to 149. No deaths have been reported in the U.S, and only one hospitalization.

"I wouldn't be overly reassured by that," Besser told reporters at CDC's headquarters in Atlanta. He raised the possibility of more severe cases in the United States.

"We are taking it seriously and acting aggressively," Besser said. "Until the outbreak has progressed, you really don't know what it's going to do."

The U.S. stepped up checks of people entering the country by air, land and sea.

And Besser said a new U.S. travel advisory was being prepared suggesting "nonessential travel to Mexico be avoided."

Now Mexico city has been hit with an earthquake,5.6,but no reports of major damage or death so far.

This is just not Mexico City's week...could this be the signs of things yet to come.... 

Health officials are concerned it could turn into a pandemic. Pandemic flu killed 50 million people in 1918, and there is exponentially more traveling done now. When the Spanish flu epidemic happened, it came in three seperate waves.

Flu shots will be a good idea come fall, unless of course you don't believe in evolution. There will probably be two flus to contend with, seasonal human strain, and porky pig strain. Thhhhh thhh thhhhats all folks!

Maybe the Mayans had that whole 2012 doomsday right  Ling

anti~ you crack me up! Thanks.

Let's take score here.

Republicans are against funding studying volcanoes to predict eruptions... Volcano erupts.

Republicans are against funding the prevention of a flu pandemic... nasty new flu enters the US.

What next?

Oh no- Oh no.  It's cloudy & I can't tell if the sky to falling. 

Please Mr. President save my bacon

this whole thing is much to do about nothing....i cannot believe the word PANDEMIC is even being used here.less than 50 cases in the US and less than 2000 in Mexico

thats .00002% of the pop of Mexico

and .00000001% of the population of the US..

yep....its a pandemic alright

jeez people......i bet people on this board can turn a freekin baseball game into a left v right shootout

No, it is not a pandemic. I don't really think anyone said it was. The point is, would you rather the government actually be prepared to deal with one or should we just cross our fingers?

"No, it is not a pandemic. I don't really think anyone said it was. The point is, would you rather the government actually be prepared to deal with one or should we just cross our fingers?"

Agree!!

Stage (phase) 4 over at W.H.O.~ cases cropping up in Scotland,Spain. Not time to freak( never freak anyway),but why not be preparred? Are you and your family ready for a house fire,a major disaster? Same deal here.

Blaming Senators Collins and Specter for a loss of funding within the Stimulus Bill is just wrong. There would be no Stimulus Bill if these two moderates had not come forward and voted for the package. As Roysan, mentioned these two are not conservatives, which means they are not conservative enough for the current GOP leadership. Democrats don't need to play the "Splat" game here, particularly on those who can help move the country forward.

No, it is not a pandemic. I don't really think anyone said it was. The point is, would you rather the government actually be prepared to deal with one or should we just cross our fingers?

If by dealing with it you mean throwing "all those little porky things" (Democrat Senator Schumer) in a Stimulus bill rather than go through appropriate government process, then no. Even if soon to be Democrat Senator Specter did approve of this funding, it would not change our capacity to handle the current Swine Flu.

Also, people seem to confuse a Pandemic with an extremely deadly disease. They sometimes correlate, but by no means are synonymous. A Pandemic simply describes how fast or how easy a disease spreads between persons. We don't know how deadly this disease is, we just know it's spreading efficiently between people

Didn't Shumer (Democrat) as posted above also disagree with it being in the bill? Beings how this is a new strain would we even have a vaccine yet?