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Showing posts with label rep cory gardner r CO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rep cory gardner r CO. Show all posts

17 October 2014

Financiación Ebola no conseguirá una audiencia de republicanos de la Cámara, pero Ebola pánico Will & Separar preocupaciones legítimas de Ébola de temor innecesario y Legisladores llaman a las agencias de salud para dar cuenta de los errores de Ébola 16OKT14


EL obstruccionista gop / té-bagger en el Congreso son expertos en fomentar el miedo y el pánico al tiempo que evita una adecuada (por falta de financiación) la respuesta del gobierno federal a cualquier amenaza importante o desastre. Ébola es una amenaza, y el Partido Republicano y el té-empacadores, junto con los medios de comunicación están aullando como desaforados , aterrorizando gran parte de la opinión pública estadounidense, y están tratando de usar una muerte Ébola y dos casos confirmados de Ebola en los EE.UU. políticamente contra Pres Obama y todos los demócratas y el candidato independiente que se ejecuta en estas elecciones mediados años plazo. Pero los demócratas se están defendiendo, señalando la situación amerita una respuesta vigorosa pero el liderazgo republicano de la Cámara no ordenará el subcomité de Apropiaciones de Salud vuelta en la sesión de audiencias sobre la financiación para el CDC y los NIH. Para ello proporcionaría un foro muy público para el pueblo estadounidense para encontrar a cabo la preparación de los CDC y los NIH y la respuesta al Ébola está paralizado debido al secuestro y los recortes presupuestarios impuestos por el gop / cábala té-bagger en el Congreso . He aquí un video de + Erica Payne en el Proyecto de Orden del Día, + Daily Kos y un informe muy SANE, muy informativo de la  PBS NewsHour + .....

http://youtu.be/c3D0DxjgPB0

Financiación Ebola no conseguirá una audiencia de republicanos de la Cámara, pero Ebola pánico


. Nueva congresista Cory Gardner (R-CO) reacciona después de recoger el número uno en la lotería de la oficina para todos los nuevos miembros de la Cámara del Congreso en Washington, 19 de noviembre de 2010. & nbsp;  & Nbsp;  & Nbsp; REUTERS / Larry Downing (ESTADOS UNIDOS - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXUTKJ
Cory Gardner toma tiempo de su apretada campaña ocupado para hacer algo de difusión del miedo Ebola.
Termómetro Meta
El testimonio de los funcionarios públicos de salud en el Senado hace unas semanas y media posteriores de seguimiento ha señalado un grave déficit de financiación de la salud pública. De hecho, dijo el director del NIH Francis Collins, a quemarropa "si no hubiéramos pasado por nuestra diapositiva de 10 años de apoyo a la investigación, que probablemente habría tenido una vacuna a tiempo para este que han pasado por ensayos clínicos y habría sido listo ". Estos informes condujeron demócratas de la Cámara para pedir una audiencia sobre la falta de financiación para la crisis del Ébola .
"A medida que lloramos la muerte de Thomas Eric Duncan y oramos por los dos trabajadores de la salud infectados en Dallas, reiteramos nuestro llamado a la Presidente [Jack] Kingston convocar nuestro subcomité de inmediato", los demócratas en el subcomité de Asignaciones de la Salud dijo en una articulación comunicado. [...] "El Comité de Seguridad Nacional se reunió hace casi dos semanas, y un subcomité de Energía y Comercio se reunirá mañana. Para nuestro subcomité, el encargado de la financiación de los NIH y CDC, para continuar a eludir su responsabilidad y venir sin mucho como una audiencia es inaceptable ", dijeron en su comunicado el miércoles.
Kingston, el primer legislador del Partido Republicano para pedir el "zar de Ebola" , obviamente, se ha negado a sostener que oír o decir por qué. El portavoz del comité, dijo simplemente que el
actualmente Comité no tiene audiencias programadas como el Congreso está en receso. "Recess puede ser interrumpido, sin embargo, para el Subcomité del Comité de Energía y Comercio de la Salud de Supervisión e Investigaciones, como los demócratas señalaron. Eso es porque que la audiencia es sobre "Ebola indignación," en el que "director de los CDC, Thomas Frieden probablemente se enfrentará a una serie de preguntas difíciles." Ellos también parrilla NIH director de enfermedades infecciosas, Anthony Fauci, y funcionarios del Hospital Presbiteriano de Texas, donde dos enfermeras han contraído la enfermedad después de tratamiento de Duncan. Siempre hay tiempo para golpear a la administración Obama por republicanos de la Cámara.
Cuando los demócratas ganan, la salud pública gana. Por favor chip en $ 3 a asestar un golpe para la ciencia.

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La audiencia se llevará por lo menos proporcionar la oportunidad de los demócratas del comité de preguntar acerca de los niveles de financiación de las agencias, pero la intención de esta audiencia es claramente bashing administración política-Obama. Duda de que? "Colorado congresista republicano Cory Gardner, que está encerrado en una carrera competitiva para el Senado contra el senador demócrata Mark Udall, viajará a Washington el jueves para asistir a la audiencia."

Originalmente publicado a Joan McCarter el Jue 16 de octubre 2014 a las 08:49 AM PDT.

También reeditado por Daily Kos

La separación de las preocupaciones legítimas de Ébola de miedo innecesario

 
16 de octubre 2014 a las 6:40 pm EST
Como nuevos casos han sido diagnosticados en los EE.UU. y los Centros para el Control de Enfermedades amplía su investigación, la preocupación nacional se ha disparado. Gwen Ifill explora la psicología detrás de la ansiedad pública con el Dr. Eden Wells de la Universidad de Michigan y Valerie Reyna, de la Universidad Cornell.

TRANSCRIPCIÓN

GWEN IFILL: Late hoy, los Centros para el Control de Enfermedades informó que está ampliando su investigación Ebola incluir los pasajeros de un segundo vuelo efectuada por una de las enfermeras ya diagnosticados con la enfermedad. Y la línea aérea está notificando a los pasajeros que pudieran haber volado a otra parte en los mismos jet.As nuevos detalles emergen, y como audiencia en el Congreso de hoy mostró, preocupaciones internas más Ébola están por las nubes. Un nuevo sondeo de Reuters / Ipsos encuentra el 41 por ciento están muy preocupados por el brote, 36 por ciento está algo preocupado. Y el 45 por ciento dicen que están evitando los viajes internacionales.
Una encuesta separada por la Escuela de Salud Pública de Harvard encontró que más de la mitad de los adultos están preocupados de que habrá un gran brote de Ébola en los EE.UU. en los próximos 12 meses.
Es una buena tiempo para preguntar, ¿cómo deberíamos estar preocupados? ¿Y cómo debemos evaluar cualquier nivel de riesgo?
Nos dirigimos a Dr. Eden Wells, profesor de epidemiología de la Universidad de Michigan. Y Valerie Reyna, profesora de Desarrollo Humano y Psicología en la Universidad de Cornell.
Bienvenido a los dos.
Dr. Wells, ¿cuándo empezamos a pensar que se trata de un miedo legítimo y cuándo es la paranoia? DR. EDEN WELLS, Universidad de Michigan: Bueno, esa es una excelente pregunta, pero que es difícil de responder, ya que creo que cualquiera que tenga una preocupación tiene - se justifica tener esa preocupación. Y, por lo tanto, tenemos que abordar que con una buena información. Paranoia es probablemente demasiado fuerte de un término. Yo diría que las personas tienen preocupaciones después de que todos los ciclos de noticias que hemos estado viendo en la última semana o así, ya vienen de mi propia familia, mis compañeros, mis amigos, y, en total, a finales de el día, podemos decir hoy que este virus no ha cambiado. El riesgo es aún baja para aquellos de nosotros que no están involucrados en la atención de salud, al igual que estas dos enfermeras heroicos que eran realmente íntimamente involucrado con el cuidado del Sr. Duncan, y , por desgracia, se infectaron. GWEN IFILL: Déjame seguir con usted en una pieza más de eso, que es, me pregunto hasta qué punto las cuestiones lingüísticas. Cuando estos casos son aislados y cuándo es un brote? DR. EDEN WELLS: Esa es una pregunta muy buena. Yo diría que en este momento tenemos dos casos que estuvieron involucrados en la atención médica directa de este paciente. Sabemos que este virus se transmite por contacto corporal directo con la persona o los fluidos de esa persona. Un brote de - en mi mente, realmente significaría que si el virus comienza a ocurrir más allá de lo que decimos es la transmisión secundaria que estamos viendo en este momento, el hecho de que estas enfermeras se enfermaron, que si empezamos a ver los casos que se producen en otras personas de la comunidad, que en mi mente sería un brote. Una vez más, que el riesgo de un brote es realmente muy bajo. Esto no ha cambiado en lo que hemos estado diciendo acerca de este virus en los últimos seis meses. GWEN IFILL: Valerie Reyna, cómo hacen las personas a manejar este riesgo, sobre todo emocionalmente, psicológicamente, hacer la diferencia entre tener que preocuparse por el presente y preocuparse por el futuro ? VALERIE REYNA, la Universidad de Cornell: Bueno, hay una gran cantidad de la ciencia psicológica en este tema. Y es muy comprensible que la gente estaría preocupado por el riesgo de un brote de Ébola. La gente piensa realmente en términos de - de dos maneras sobre el riesgo. Piensan en posibilidad vs. imposibilidad, y, por supuesto, hemos repasado esa barrera psicológica. La gente se les dijo inicialmente que la transmisión era esencialmente imposible. Les dijeron que de buena fe. Y entonces sucedió, y sucedió dos veces. Así que ahora, psicológicamente, la gente ha pasado de, esto es una imposibilidad para, no sólo es una posibilidad, pero es uno que está en aumento. Y la mente humana está muy en sintonía a los cambios, a los aumentos en el riesgo, así como los cambios de imposible a posible. GWEN IFILL: Por lo tanto, es parte del problema como lo ve que al decir, por ejemplo, para tratar de calmar la público la semana pasada, el Dr. Frieden decir o Dr. Fauci decir esto se detendrá en sus pistas en los Estados Unidos? ¿Era parte del problema en el cambio de expectativas? VALERIE REYNA: Bueno, no estoy seguro de que eso es parte del problema. Yo creo que es bueno para tranquilizar a la gente de que hay medidas en vigor. Creo que la respuesta psicológica humana al riesgo es - tiene varios componentes. Tiene un componente emocional a ella, amenaza y alarma. Esa amenaza y la alarma pueden dar sentido a veces. Y ahí es donde la comunicación de riesgos entra. Cada vez que tenemos una epidemia como esta o un desastre natural o un incidente que tiene que ver con el terrorismo, la comunicación de riesgos se convierte en una clave entre los funcionarios y el público. A menudo es algo que damos por sentado. Es una especie de fuerza invisible, pero es el tipo de cosa que se conecta a la seguridad de las personas a los recursos que podemos tener para lidiar. GWEN IFILL: Dr. Wells, cómo hace el factor de riesgo para el Ébola, como usted lo entiende, en comparación con los factores de riesgo para otras enfermedades que han causado este tipo de gran temor generalizado con - pienso en el SIDA en los primeros días o SARS o la gripe aviar. DR. EDEN WELLS: . Oh, sí En primer lugar, me gustaría decir que estoy absolutamente de acuerdo con nuestro otro altavoz aquí esta noche. Y está muy bien, dijo acerca de la comunicación de riesgos. Y tenemos que abordar el hecho de que esta es una enfermedad. Como Ébola ha sido conocido desde mediados de la década de 1970, es una enfermedad que da miedo de sonar. Tiene una alta tasa de mortalidad conocida. Es bastante horripilante en cómo las personas sufren de ella, sobre todo cuando se convierten en gran medida los malos, si no muere. Y esto ha sido en nuestra conciencia colectiva, si se quiere, desde que fue descubierto por primera vez en 1976. Pero a medida que se compara en términos de riesgo, a pesar de que esto es difícil de comunicar, ya que, en estos momentos, todo el mundo está preocupado por lo que " re escuchar acerca de la reciente noticia, pero, en cuanto a los riesgos, cuando pienso en las enfermedades que hemos visto transpirar, el VIH, la gripe aviar, si pensamos en sustos rápidas, ya sabes, la poliomielitis, la gripe española, esto es menos transmisible, gracias a Dios, que muchas de las enfermedades que hablamos acerca. Se requiere el contacto directo con una persona infectada o con sus fluidos corporales. Así que el riesgo es menor que el de la gripe aviar, el SARS que hemos tratado en el pasado. Pero, de nuevo, tenemos que ser capaces de transmitir que el riesgo de una manera que la gente puede sentirse más reconfortados, ya que esto es una preocupación, y los cambios recientes han aumentado la preocupación, ya que mi compañero orador dijo. GWEN IFILL: Bueno, Valerie Reyna, brevemente, ¿cómo calmar el miedo sin subestimar el riesgo? VALERIE REYNA: Sí, creo que eso es muy importante. Creo que realmente tenemos que ser abiertos y transparentes. Tenemos que explicar a la gente la naturaleza de la transmisión. Ahora, este es un reto muy difícil. Usted tiene la información técnica que tiene que salir a una amplia variedad de personas con diferentes tipos de fondos de conocimiento. Pero ese es el reto de la comunicación de riesgos. Existe información científica disponible que pueda facilitar eso. La gente tiene que saber cómo sucedió esto, por qué sucedió. Si hay incertidumbre, y no sabemos ciertas causas, tenemos que estar abiertos a eso. Creo que las personas pueden estar tranquilos cuando se les da la información. Hay elementos de aquí, también, que tienen que ver con la confianza en el gobierno. Y creo que la confianza se fomenta en la medida que somos sinceros con la gente. GWEN IFILL: . derecho Valerie Reyna, de la Universidad de Cornell, y el Dr. Ellen - Eden Wells de la Universidad de Michigan, que tanto agradecen mucho. VALERIE REYNA: Gracias, Gwen.

Legisladores llaman a las agencias de salud para dar cuenta de los errores de Ebola

 
16 de octubre 2014 a las 6:50 pm EST
Creciente ansiedad sobre el Ébola en los EE.UU. provocó una audiencia en la Cámara de cuestionar los altos funcionarios de salud de la nación. Mientras tanto, presidente de la Cámara John Boehner y otros sugirieron que los límites pueden colocar en los viajeros procedentes de África occidental, pero un portavoz de la Casa Blanca desestimó la idea de una prohibición de viajar. Gwen Ifill informa.

TRANSCRIPCIÓN

GWEN IFILL: Las principales agencias de salud federales fueron llamados a explicar hoy por los errores en el manejo de Ebola. Los legisladores de ambos partidos dispararon las críticas y preguntas en una audiencia en Washington. REP. FRED Upton, (R) Michigan:   . Vida de las personas que están en juego, y la respuesta hasta ahora ha sido inaceptable GWEN IFILL: ansiedad creciente ante la posibilidad de propagación del ébola en los EE.UU. trajo un comité de la Cámara de regresar de hacer campaña y puso de salud más importantes del país funcionarios en la línea de fuego. Michigan republicano Fred Upton: REP. FRED UPTON: Vamos a mantener sus pies al fuego en hacer el trabajo y conseguir que se haga bien. Tanto los EE.UU. y la comunidad sanitaria mundial hemos logrado hasta ahora poner en marcha una estrategia eficaz con la suficiente rapidez para combatir el brote actual. GWEN IFILL: Las quejas eran bipartidista. demócrata Diana DeGette de Colorado: REP. DIANA DeGette, (D) Colorado: Sería un eufemismo decir que la respuesta a la primera paciente con sede en EE.UU. con el Ébola se ha administrado mal, causando riesgo a decenas de personas adicionales. GWEN IFILL: La audiencia se produjo en medio sugerencias de la Cámara de Representantes John Boehner y otros que los límites deben colocar sobre los viajeros que entran en el país de África occidental, donde miles de personas han muerto de Ebola. republicano Tim Murphy de Pennsylvania presidió la audiencia. REP. TIM MURPHY, (R) Pennsylvania: Esta es la pregunta que el público estadounidense está pidiendo. ¿Por qué seguimos permitiendo a la gente a venir por aquí y por qué, una vez que están aquí, ¿no hay cuarentena? GWEN IFILL: Pero el jefe de los Centros para el Control de Enfermedades, el Dr. Tom Frieden, sostuvo una prohibición de viajar podría ser contraproducente. DR. Thomas Frieden, Director de los Centros para el Control y Prevención de Enfermedades:  Si la gente fuera a entrar, por ejemplo, ir por tierra a otro país y luego entrar sin saber que eran de estos tres países, que en realidad perder esa información. GWEN IFILL: En la Casa Blanca, un portavoz dijo que la prohibición de los viajes no está bajo consideración. Pero las proyecciones de pasajeros han comenzado en los principales aeropuertos internacionales en Nueva York, Atlanta, Chicago, Newark, Nueva Jersey, y Washington. El proceso incluye tomar la temperatura y la entrega de cuestionarios a los viajeros procedentes de Guinea, Sierra Leona y Liberia. En Washington Dulles Airport, algunos pasajeros se sintieron tranquilos, otros no tanto. ERIC MORENO: Cualquier proyección dentro o fuera, yo estoy a favor, ya sea seguridad para el terrorismo o si es para cuestiones de salud. Obviamente, yo no quiero nada traído. RAMYA SINGH: No sé qué tan efectivos serán, con toda sinceridad, porque usted sabe que usted está viniendo, pero no sé dónde ha estado antes. GWEN IFILL: En Dallas, continuó preguntas acerca de cómo dos enfermeras se infectaron después de tratar a un hombre de Liberia, Thomas Eric Duncan, que murió de Ebola en el Texas Health Hospital Presbiteriano. Un funcionario del hospital superior apareció en audiencia en el Congreso de hoy a través de vídeo. DR. DANIEL VARGA, Director Clínico, de Texas Health Resources: Por desgracia, en nuestro tratamiento inicial del Sr. Duncan, a pesar de nuestras mejores intenciones y un equipo médico altamente cualificado, que cometieron errores. Nosotros no diagnosticamos correctamente sus síntomas como los de Ebola. Y estamos profundamente apenado. GWEN IFILL: Una de las enfermeras, de 29 años de edad, Amber Vinson, ahora se ha trasladado al Hospital de la Universidad de Emory en Atlanta. La otra enfermera, Nina Pham, se está enviando a los Institutos Nacionales de Salud en Bethesda, Maryland. Más tarde, el presidente Obama llamó a los líderes clave del Congreso, se reunió con altos funcionarios del gobierno, y autorizó a la llamada a filas de las tropas de la Guardia Nacional y la Reserva, si necesario para ayudar a lidiar con el brote en el África occidental. Tendremos más sobre la respuesta a la amenaza del Ébola tras el resumen de noticias.

Ebola funding won't get a hearing from House Republicans, but Ebola panic will & Separating legitimate Ebola concerns from unnecessary fear & Lawmakers call health agencies to account for Ebola mistakes 16OKT14


THE gop / tea-bagger obstructionist in congress are experts in encouraging fear and panic while preventing an adequate (due to lack of funding) federal government response to any major threat or disaster. Ebola is a threat, and the gop and tea-baggers along with the mainstream media are howling like banshees, terrifying much of the American public, and they are trying to use one Ebola death and two confirmed Ebola cases in the U.S. politically against Pres Obama and every Democrat and Independent candidate running in this years mid term elections. But Democrats are fighting back, pointing out the situation warrants a vigorous response but the republican house leadership will not order the House Appropriations Health subcommittee back in session for hearings on funding for the CDC and NIH. To do so would provide a very public forum for the American people to find out the CDC and NIH preparation and response to Ebola is hamstrung due to sequestration and budget cuts imposed by the gop / tea-bagger cabal in congress. Here's a video from +Erica Payne at the Agenda Project, +Daily Kos and a very SANE, very INFORMATIVE report from the +PBS NewsHour .....
http://youtu.be/c3D0DxjgPB0

Ebola funding won't get a hearing from House Republicans, but Ebola panic will


New U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) reacts after picking number one in the office lottery for all new House members of Congress in Washington, November 19, 2010.      REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXUTKJ
Cory Gardner takes time from his busy campaign schedule to do some Ebola fearmongering.
Goal Thermometer
Testimony from public health officials in the Senate a few weeks ago and subsequent media follow up has pointed out a serious deficit for public health funding. In fact, NIH Director Francis Collins said, point blank "if we had not gone through our 10-year slide in research support, we probably would have had a vaccine in time for this that would've gone through clinical trials and would have been ready." These reports led House Democrats to call for a hearing on the lack of funding for the Ebola crisis.
"As we mourn the death of Thomas Eric Duncan and pray for the two health care workers infected in Dallas, we reiterate our call for Chairman [Jack] Kingston to convene our subcommittee immediately," Democrats on the House Appropriations Health subcommittee said in a joint statement. […] "The Homeland Security Committee met nearly two weeks ago, and an Energy and Commerce subcommittee will meet tomorrow. For our subcommittee, the one in charge of funding the NIH and CDC, to continue to shirk its responsibility and go without so much as a hearing is unacceptable,” they said in their statement Wednesday.
Kingston, the first GOP lawmaker to call for an "Ebola czar" obviously has refused to hold that hearing or say why. The spokesperson for the committee said simply that the
Committee currently has no hearings scheduled as the Congress is in recess." Recess can be interrupted, however, for the Energy and Commerce Health Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as the Democrats noted. That's because that hearing is about "Ebola outrage," in which "CDC Director Thomas Frieden will likely face a series of tough questions." They'll also grill NIH infectious disease director Anthony Fauci and officials from Texas Presbyterian Hospital, where two nurses have contracted the disease after treating Duncan. There's always time for bashing the Obama administration for House Republicans.
When Democrats win, public health wins. Please chip in $3 to strike a blow for science.

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The hearing will at least provide the opportunity to committee Democrats to ask about funding levels for the agencies, but the intent of this hearing is clearly political—Obama administration bashing. Doubt that? "Colorado Republican Congressman Cory Gardner, who is locked in a competitive race for the Senate against Democratic Senator Mark Udall, will travel back to Washington on Thursday to attend the hearing."

Originally posted to Joan McCarter on Thu Oct 16, 2014 at 08:49 AM PDT.

Also republished by Daily Kos

Separating legitimate Ebola concerns from unnecessary fear

October 16, 2014 at 6:40 PM EDT
As new cases have been diagnosed in the U.S. and the Centers for Disease Control expands its investigation, national concern has skyrocketed. Gwen Ifill explores the psychology behind the public anxiety with Dr. Eden Wells of the University of Michigan and Valerie Reyna of Cornell University.

TRANSCRIPT

GWEN IFILL: Late today, the Centers for Disease Control reported that it is expanding its Ebola investigation to include passengers on a second flight flown by one of the nurses since diagnosed with the disease. And the airline is notifying passengers who may have flown elsewhere on the same jet.As new details emerge, and as today’s congressional hearing showed, domestic concerns over Ebola are skyrocketing. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 41 percent are very concerned about the outbreak, 36 percent are somewhat concerned. And 45 percent say they are avoiding international travel.
A separate poll by the Harvard School of Public Health found that more than half of adults are concerned that there will be a large outbreak of Ebola inside the U.S. within the next 12 months.
It’s a good time to ask, how worried should we be? And how should we assess any level of risk?
We turn to Dr. Eden Wells, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan. And Valerie Reyna, a Professor of Human Development and Psychology at Cornell University.
Welcome to you both.
Dr. Wells, when do we begin to think that this is a legitimate fear and when is it paranoia?
DR. EDEN WELLS, University of Michigan: Well, that’s an excellent question, but one that’s difficult to answer, in that I think anybody who has a concern has — is justified to have that concern.
And, therefore, we need to address that with good information. Paranoia is probably too strong of a term. I would say that the concerns people have after all of the news cycles that we have been seeing in the last week or so, they’re coming from my own family, my colleagues, my friends, and, in all, at the end of the day, we can say today that this virus has not changed.
The risk is still low for those of us that are not involved in health care, like these two heroic nurses that were really intimately involved with the care of Mr. Duncan, and, unfortunately, became infected.
GWEN IFILL: Let me follow up with you on one more piece of that, which is, I wonder to what degree the language matters. When are these isolated cases and when is it an outbreak?
DR. EDEN WELLS: That’s a very good question.
I would say that we right now have two cases that were involved in the direct health care of this patient. We do know that this virus transmits from direct bodily contact with the person or the fluids of that person. An outbreak to — in my mind, would really mean that if the virus begins to occur beyond what we say is the secondary transmission that we’re seeing right now, the fact that these nurses became ill, that if we began to see cases that were occurring in other people in the community, that in my mind would be an outbreak.
Again, that risk for an outbreak is really very low. This has not changed in what we have been saying about this virus in the past six months.
GWEN IFILL: Valerie Reyna, how do people manage this risk, especially emotionally, psychologically, make the difference between worrying about the present and worrying about the future?
VALERIE REYNA, Cornell University: Well, there’s a great deal of psychological science on this topic.
And it’s very understandable that people would be concerned about the risk from an Ebola outbreak. People think really in terms of — in two ways about risk. They think about possibility vs. impossibility, and, of course, we have gone over that barrier psychologically. People were initially told that transmission was essentially impossible.
They were told that in good faith. And then it happened, and it happened twice. So now, psychologically, people have shifted from, this is an impossibility to, not only is it a possibility, but it’s one that’s increasing. And the human mind is keenly attuned to change, to increases in risk, as well as changes from impossible to possible.
GWEN IFILL: So, is part of the problem as you see it that by saying, for instance, in trying to calm the public last week, Dr. Frieden saying or Dr. Fauci saying this will be stopped in its tracks in the United States? Was that part of the problem in changing expectations?
VALERIE REYNA: Well, I’m not sure that that’s part of the problem. I think it’s good to reassure people that there are measures in place.
I think that the human psychological response to risk is — has multiple components. It has an emotional component to it, threat and alarm. That threat and alarm can make sense sometimes. And that’s where risk communication comes in. Whenever we have an epidemic like this or a natural disaster or an incident that has to do with terrorism, risk communication becomes a key between officials and the public.
It’s often something we take for granted. It’s a kind of invisible force, but it’s the kind of thing that connects the safety of people to the resources that we can bring to bear.
GWEN IFILL: Dr. Wells, how does the risk factor for Ebola, as you understand it, compare to risk factors for other diseases which have caused this kind of great widespread fear with — I think of AIDS in the early days or SARS or avian flu.
DR. EDEN WELLS: Oh, yes.
First off, I would like to say that I absolutely agree with our other speaker here this evening. And it’s very well said about risk communication. And we have to address the fact that this is a disease. As Ebola has been known since the mid-1970s, it’s a scary-sounding disease. It has a known high fatality rate.
It is rather gruesome in how people suffer from it, especially when they become greatly ill, if not die. And this has been in our collective consciousness, if you will, since it was first discovered in 1976.
But as it compares in terms of risk, even though this is difficult to communicate because, right now, everybody is worried because of what we’re hearing about the recent news, but, as far as risk, when I think about the diseases that we have seen transpire, HIV, avian influenza, if we think of fast scares, you know, polio, the Spanish flu, this is less transmissible, thank goodness, than many of the diseases that we speak about.
It does require the direct contact with an infected person or their body fluids. So the risk is less than the avian flu, the SARS that we have dealt with in the past. But, again, we have to be able to relay that risk in a way that people can feel more comforted, given that this is a concern, and the recent changes have increased the concern, as my fellow speaker said.
GWEN IFILL: Well, Valerie Reyna, briefly, how do you calm the fear without underestimating the risk?
VALERIE REYNA: Yes, I think that that’s very important.
I think that we really have to be open and transparent. We have to explain to people the nature of the transmission. Now, this is a very difficult challenge. You have technical information that has to get out to a wide range of people with different kinds of knowledge backgrounds. But that’s the challenge of risk communication.
There is science available that can facilitate that. People have to know how this happened, why it happened. If there’s uncertainty, and we don’t know certain causes, we have to be open about that. I think people can be reassured when they’re given information. There’s elements in here, too, that have to do with trust in government. And I think trust is fostered to the degree that we’re candid with people.
GWEN IFILL: Right.
Valerie Reyna of Cornell University, and Dr. Ellen — Eden Wells of the University of Michigan, thank you both very much.
VALERIE REYNA: Thank you, Gwen.

Lawmakers call health agencies to account for Ebola mistakes

October 16, 2014 at 6:50 PM EDT
Growing anxiety over Ebola in the U.S. prompted a House hearing to question the nation's top health officials. Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner and others suggested that limits be placed on travelers coming from West Africa, but a White House spokesman dismissed the idea of a travel ban. Gwen Ifill reports.

TRANSCRIPT

GWEN IFILL: Major federal health agencies were called to account today for mistakes in handling Ebola.  Lawmakers from both parties fired off criticism and questions at a hearing in Washington.REP. FRED UPTON, (R) Michigan:  People’s lives are at stake, and the response so far has been unacceptable.
GWEN IFILL: Growing anxiety over the prospect of Ebola’s spread in the U.S. brought a House committee back from campaigning and put the nation’s top health officials on the firing line.
Michigan Republican Fred Upton:
REP. FRED UPTON: We’re going to hold your feet to the fire on getting the job done and getting it done right.  Both the U.S. and the global health community have so far failed to put in place an effective strategy fast enough to combat the current outbreak.
GWEN IFILL: The complaints were bipartisan.
Democrat Diana DeGette of Colorado:
REP. DIANA DEGETTE, (D) Colorado: It would be an understatement to say that the response to the first U.S.-based patient with Ebola has been mismanaged, causing risk to scores of additional people.
GWEN IFILL: The hearing came amid suggestions from House Speaker John Boehner and others that limits be placed on travelers coming into the country from West Africa, where thousands have died of Ebola.
Republican Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania chaired the hearing.
REP. TIM MURPHY, (R) Pennsylvania: This is the question the American public is asking.  Why are we still allowing folks to come over here and why, once they’re over here, is there no quarantine?
GWEN IFILL: But the head of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Tom Frieden, argued a travel ban could backfire.
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:  If people were to come in by, for example, going over land to another country and then entering without our knowing that they were from these three countries, we would actually lose that information.
GWEN IFILL: At the White House, a spokesman said banning travel is not under consideration.
But passenger screenings have started at major international airports in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Newark, New Jersey, and Washington.  The process includes taking temperatures and handing out questionnaires to travelers from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
At Washington Dulles Airport, some passengers felt reassured, some less so.
ERIC MORENO: Any screening in or out, I’m all for, whether it’s security for terrorism or whether it’s for health issues.  Obviously, I don’t want anything brought in.
RAMYA SINGH: I don’t know how effective they will be, quite honestly, because you know where you’re coming from, but you don’t know where you have been before.
GWEN IFILL: In Dallas, questions continued about how two nurses got infected after treating a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died of Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
A top hospital official appeared at today’s congressional hearing via video.
DR. DANIEL VARGA, Chief Clinical Officer, Texas Health Resources: Unfortunately, in our initial treatment of Mr. Duncan, despite our best intentions and a highly skilled medical team, we made mistakes.  We didn’t correctly diagnose his symptoms as those of Ebola.  And we are deeply sorry.
GWEN IFILL: One of the nurses, 29-year-old Amber Vinson, has now been moved to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.  The other nurse, Nina Pham, is being sent to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Later, President Obama called key congressional leaders, met with top administration officials, and authorized a call-up of the National Guard and Reserve troops if needed to help deal with the outbreak in West Africa.  We will have more on the response to the Ebola threat after the news summary.

25 April 2014

CORY GARDNER, ONE REALLY BAD EGG IN THE LVC'S DIRTY DOZEN 24APR14

League of Conservation Voters Action Fund
SEN MARK UDALL D CO has been endorsed by the LVC / League of Conservation voters for reelection. His challenger, rep cory gardner r tb CO, is the kind of congressman who has been paid for by the koch brothers and the big oil and gas lobbies. He is not representing the best interest of the people of Colorado as a representative in congress, instead he kow-tows to the demands of the corporate interest as payback for the $450,000+ he has already received from them. These are the same corporations and politicians who have weakened the EPA and state environmental regulatory agencies so that environmental disasters like the chemical spill in the Kanawah River and the coal ash spill in the Dan River were made not only possible but likely. cory gardner will do nothing to prevent a similar environmental disaster from occurring in your community. If you can please make a donation to LVC's Action Fund (no amount is too small, I donated $5.00) to provide the financial support Sen Mark Udall and those like him the means to defeat the koch brothers and the the big oil and gas industries. 

Cory Gardner "Wrong Way" Ad

 Since we named climate change-denying Senate candidate Cory Gardner to the Dirty Dozen last week -- and LCV launched a TV ad highlighting his ties with Big Oil -- he has come back with a fierce attack on us and Senator Mark Udall. Gardner called us an “extreme organization” and issued a challenge to Senator Udall to return the campaign contributions we’ve given to him because they have “rewarded him for his unwavering loyalty” to his commitment to conservation. (Uh yeah, we know he’s been loyal -- Senator Udall has a 97% lifetime environmental score!)
Clearly we’ve made Congressman Gardner nervous and he thinks that attacking Senator Udall’s amazing record of standing up for our environment will win him points. Let’s show him he’s wrong -- that Senator Udall’s support for our environment will help him win the support of Colorado voters, and that Congressman Gardner’s history of denying climate change science, siding with oil companies, and voting against our environment will be his undoing.

The race between our ally Senator Mark Udall and climate change denier Cory Gardner is way too close and the Koch brothers are already pouring money into Colorado.
Cory Gardner
What’s that we hear? A climate change denier is challenging one of our biggest allies in the Senate? And the race is already within just a few points?
We are so IN!
We’ve just added Congressman Cory Gardner to the Dirty Dozen -- that means we’re going to take on this polluter-funded Senate candidate and we’re not going to stop until he’s defeated.
We’re putting everything we’ve got into this race to make sure that this climate change denier can’t even get close to unseating our ally Senator Mark Udall in his reelection campaign.
It’s not going to be easy -- early polling shows that the race is neck-and-neck. When it’s this close this early, the only way to win is to start working immediately, but we need your help to do that.
We can’t wait to act on this. The Koch brothers certainly aren’t. Their front group, Freedom Partners, has just dumped $1.1 million into TV ads in Colorado and Iowa.
Gardner has gotten more than $450,000 in contributions from the oil and gas industry. And it’s clear as day why they’re so invested in this race. Gardner has repeatedly sided with Big Oil by voting against eliminating billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the nation’s most profitable oil companies. He even signed a pledge on tax policy that would protect these billions in Big Oil handouts!
And Gardner isn’t just an ally of the dirty energy industry when it comes to subsidies. He has also repeatedly denied the overwhelming scientific consensus that humans are the driving force behind climate change. His atrocious voting record across the board on the environment has earned him a pitiful 9% lifetime score on our National Environmental Scorecard. Make a gift now to help us defeat him >>
Can you imagine what damage it would do if this climate change denier unseated Senator Mark Udall, who has earned an amazing 97% lifetime environmental score?
We CANNOT lose this race. We HAVE to get boots on the ground now to get the word out about Cory Gardner’s extreme positions -- but it takes resources to make sure we can knock on enough doors, make enough phone calls, and get neighbors talking to neighbors so we can turn out an environmental majority this election.
Our Dirty Dozen program targets candidates for Congress -- regardless of party affiliation -- who consistently side against the environment and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Last cycle, we defeated 11 of the 12 candidates on the Dirty Dozen.
I know we can have that same success this year. But with races starting out as close as this one, we will have to fight tooth and nail to come out on top.
So thanks for chipping in today to make sure we can start our first Senate Dirty Dozen campaign off strong.
Best,
Gene
Gene Karpinski
President
LCV Action Fund
Paid for by League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, www.lcvactionfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
1920 L Street, NW Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
202-785-8683

15 July 2011

Freshman Republicans Lobby Federal Agencies For Millions Amid Spending Critiques 5JUL11

MORE glaring hypocrisy from the gop / tea-baggers that are holding up a deal on raising the federal budget cap by insisting on massive cuts in federal spending and no revenue increases. They want spending to be cut, but not in their districts. From HuffPost....

WASHINGTON -- For years, Tennessee lawmakers have advocated for the construction of a major port on the northwest corner of the state on the Mississippi River. Known as the Port of Cates Landing, the project would include a 9,000-foot slack-water harbor, an adjacent 350-acre industrial park, improvements to local roads to connect it to U.S. Highway 78, and a short-line railroad to a larger rail line 28 miles away. It would, by some estimates, create thousands of jobs -- a much-needed boon for the Lake County region, 37.8 percent of whose residents live below the poverty line.
It also would cost a fair amount of cash. By the spring of 2011, more than $33 million had been invested in the project; an additional $20 million -- $13 million from the federal government, $7 million from the state of Tennessee -- was on its way. But as Congress, in an effort to avert a shutdown, began looking for federal expenditures to shave off the budget, Cates Landing's future suddenly became unclear. It was, among other transportation projects, on the chopping block.
Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.), a member of the freshmen Republican class of the House of Representatives whose district includes the port project, faced a predicament. Elected as a fiscal hawk, with pledges to get spending under control, he could either go to the mat for Cates Landing or make a philosophical, self-sacrificial statement.
He chose the former. On March 8, 2011, Gannett news service reported that the funding for Cates Landing was being targeted by lawmakers looking to slash the federal budget. The same day that report came out, Fincher spoke directly with Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about the funds. The next day, he wrote a follow-up letter seeking assistance in "obligating" the $13 million grant for the port.
"The contract is currently before your Department and ready to be signed," the letter read. "I am respectively requesting you to help push this project over the final hurdle. There is no law, regulation, or other legal obligation to prevent you from signing this contract and I urge you to do so without further delay."
The lobbying had its intended results. The grant was signed on March 18, according to a Department of Transportation spokesperson, with the goal of finishing construction by the fall.
"We just wanted to make sure that we could do everything possible to create jobs, and this was a part we could play and I did everything I could and we were successful," the congressman declared a few days later to reporters, onlookers and fellow lawmakers, at an event praising the incoming funds.
Two days after writing LaHood, Fincher voted for the a Republican House budget that cut billions of dollars, including from many other transportation priorities. His office put out a press release scolding "out of control" and "reckless" federal spending.
As lawmakers prepare to cut trillions of dollars from the budget as a condition to raising the nation's debt ceiling, the story of the Cates Landing project underscores the dilemma that faces many members of the Republican-run House and the freshmen class in particular. Federal spending is derided as nothing short of a threat to the country's future -- unless, of course, it happens to be directed at that congressman's home district.
Sara Sendek, a spokesman for Fincher, noted that the $13 million grant request was actually made by his predecessor, Rep. Jon Tanner (D-Tenn.). Even so, she added, "Congressman Fincher does support this project."
As for the why: "He believes government does play a role in creating an environment that attracts private investment and job growth. This project does exactly that," she said. "It is very important for Tennessee's economy and for the country's economy. So it was absolutely worthwhile."
Such an explanation sounds like something out of the mouth of a Keynesian economist, rather than the musings of a congressman who proudly touts his support from the Tea Party movement. But Fincher is hardly alone. A Freedom of Information Act request of the communications between freshmen House members and federal agencies reveals that, in private, GOP lawmakers have pressed for tens of millions of dollars in federal help for their districts, even while decrying federal spending in front of the national press corps.
Take, for instance, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). On March 8, the freshman Republican co-signed a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration requesting that the Department of Transportation fund a project to improve a runway at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. The cost of the improvement: $4.365 million.
Less than a month later, on the floor of the House, he declared that "our nation is broke. The federal government has maxed out its credit card."
Unlike Fincher, Johnson -- who wrote the letter with Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) -- was unsuccessful in his request. A spokesman for the FAA told HuffPost that no funds have been obligated yet for runway improvements. Yet on the broader question of whether it was inconsistent for a lawmaker who has repeatedly deplored government spending to privately request his own slice of the pie, Johnson's office attempted to draw distinctions.
“There’s a difference between smart federal spending and the reckless, irresponsible waste of tax dollars the American people are fed up with," said spokesperson Jessica Towhey. "Congressman Johnson joined with Rep. Tim Ryan in a bipartisan request to the FAA for safety improvements at a part of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport that the FAA has determined is not safe. This airport is a growing hub for travel and business in Northeast Ohio, and there is strong bipartisan support to ensure the safety of travelers and airport employees.”
The problem with this logic, as budget experts note, is that every member insists that the spending he or she requests is smart, not reckless, in nature. Not everyone, however, came to office on a promise to implement cuts across the board.
"I think members are conflicted," explained Stu Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report and one of the most seasoned observers of national politics. "In the old days, the rules were pretty clear -- you just tried to bring home the bacon. You sent out press releases, held press conferences, and got credit for getting jobs in your district … It's more complicated now because there are pressures at odds with each other. As a U.S Representative you have, on one hand, a higher calling. You have to address runaway spending. But that is offset by the role you play for the folks back home."
Complicating the landscape even further are the new budgeting rules that Congress has imposed on itself. Whereas in days past, lawmakers could earmark, meaning they tacked amendments onto bills that directed money toward provincial projects, today that practice is banned. As a result, lawmakers have forfeited a tremendous amount of power to the executive branch. Instead of being able to set aside funds for projects in their home states or districts, members are now reduced to lobbying federal agencies for unspent funds.
"It is what we have called 'lettermarking,'" said Steve Ellis, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national non-partisan budget watchdog. "It is something we have all recognized will become more prevalent with the lack of traditional earmarks. There are larger amounts of money going to agencies without it being designated for specific projects."
Begging a cabinet secretary for help is humbling enough for any member. For House GOP freshmen, it's created a nearly irreconcilable bind. And so many have chosen to simply remain quiet about their funding requests.
On March 1, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) wrote Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, urging him to support a grant application submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Biomass Crop Assistance Program division by MFA Oil Biomass LLC. The company was spearheading a project to "provide farmers an alternative energy crop source, as well as new crop processing technology." An infusion of federal funding, Crawford added, would "create a significant number of new jobs for Arkansas." (A review of campaign finance records revealed no contributions from MFA Oil Biomass or its board to Crawford's campaign committee.)
Type in "MFA Oil" on the congressman's website and you get no result. When the project was approved in mid-June, however, a press release was posted on the websites of both of the state's senators.
Even altruistic funding requests have gone largely below the radar. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), for instance, wrote the Department of Agriculture on February 14, asking for $7,498,015 in cash and commodities contributions for the American Nicaraguan Foundation and Fabretto Children's Foundation -- groups that run education, health and nutrition programs in Nicaragua. Neither the congressman's office nor the Fabretto Children's Foundation returned requests for comment as to whether the funding went through. At a time when foreign aid is considered low-hanging fruit in the search for spending reductions, Walsh may have wanted to avoid drawing attention to that expense.
On the rare occasion when the press has gotten wind of a freshman House Republican making a funding request, it has turned heads. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), was criticized for putting out a press release on March 17 that praised the issuance of a $21 million federal grant to the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport for the construction of a second commercial runway. And Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) was praised locally, but raised some eyebrows nationally, when he sought federal grants and other aid for Staten Island’s two hospital systems.
Perhaps the most notorious example, however, came when the House put together a defense authorization act for fiscal year 2012 and members added on expenditures as "en bloc" amendments. According to their technical definition, they weren't earmarks, and the defense department would still have the power to authorize the money. Fundamentally, however, the add-ons were the type of bacon that House freshmen had pledged to do away with.
Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), one of those freshmen, secured $10 million to purchase land for training facilities as well as $19.9 million for ship preliminary design and feasibility studies. Rep. Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.), another freshman, secured $2.5 million for weapons and munitions advanced technology -- money that could end up in the Quad City Manufacturing Lab at the Rock Island Arsenal, located in his district.
As much as the spending requests raise questions about the ideological consistency of the freshmen Republican class, they also underscore the arguments Democrats have been making during the height of deficit-reduction debate: The government plays a vital role in activities that the private sector often avoids.
This, undoubtedly, was what compelled freshmen Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Scott Tipton (R-Colo.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) to co-sign an April 6 letter to the Department of Agriculture requesting that unused funds be spent helping the Rocky Mountain Region combat a bark beetle epidemic. It also seemed to be the thought process behind another letter Noem wrote to the Agriculture Department, demanding that South Dakota get its fair share of federal funds for wildfire damage control. Noem's office did not return a request for comment.
Whether these members can turn around and make that argument that, for all their anti-spending bluster, the money they have requested is both legitimate and necessary may prove a tricky -- though not impossible -- task. Securing a contract for a defense company in one's home district or getting a grant to build a new port are tried and true measures of securing voter support. And so long as the expenses are justified as legitimate and job-creating, even members of the Tea Party seem willing to limit their concerns to the practice of securing the money and not the money itself.
"Obviously there is going to be infrastructure spending, and one of the jobs of a Representative is to represent their district," said Mark Meckler, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots. "I would say that we should be paying close attention to this process of petitioning federal agencies [for money] … But I don't think anybody is saying that when the federal government is spending money, that no congressman should try to fund projects his district needs. I think what they are saying is we don't want egregious, crazy, pork barrel spending."