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This is a stupid argument. Completely nonsensical. Building hospitals creates jobs, repairing existing hospitals creates jobs, hiring medical staff creates jobs, purchasing new medical equipment creates jobs (someone has to build the machines & maintain them), buting medications creates jobs, or do you think all of this is not done by people and instead is created with magical libertarian fairy dust?
That's not economic stimulus, that's make-work. That's taking resources from over there and spending them over here and hoping that creates a net "stimulus." It has about the same "stimulus" effect as having people dig ditches.
The stimulus package is suppose to fund projects that will lead to long term economic growth....i.e. projects that have a much larger money multiplier effect down the road. Buying flu vaccines does not. I am not saying it isn't important because it is but it should be proposed as a separate bill or part of the general budget.
That would be an assumption. We don't collect flu vaccines for free as they drop from the skies. They also need to be administered. But, things like pandemic preparedness go beyond flu, they also go towards research and development against diseases. Sure, costs could be put in an annual budget, but then, why won't the whiners stop complaining them? The people who didn't seem to have trouble in keeping war expenses out of budget are suddenly worried about added billions to the budget when it is included in it.
In addition, it is also prudent to be prepared on a variety of fronts when there are many other things to be worried about.
Well, as it turns out, volcano monitoring wasn't the only worthwhile public safety program that was deemed extravagant in the stimulus package, funding for pandemic preparation was axed as well.
Building hospitals creates jobs, repairing existing hospitals creates jobs, hiring medical staff creates jobs, purchasing new medical equipment creates jobs (someone has to build the machines & maintain them), buting medications creates jobs, or do you think all of this is not done by people and instead is created with magical libertarian fairy dust?
I never said bodies were stacking up or ever would, thats pure straw-man right there, my point was that saving *a* life and preventing suffering is more important that a few dozen dollars in your wallet at the end of the year.
Plus:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oerdin
Building hospitals creates jobs, repairing existing hospitals creates jobs, hiring medical staff creates jobs, purchasing new medical equipment creates jobs (someone has to build the machines & maintain them), buting medications creates jobs, or do you think all of this is not done by people and instead is created with magical libertarian fairy dust?
I never said bodies were stacking up.... or ever would, thats pure 'straw-man error' if I've ever seen it.
My point earlier was that saving *a fellow citizens life* and preventing
their suffering is more important that a few dozen dollars in your wallet
at the end of the year.
Anyone who doesn't see that has their priorities mixed up in my opinion.
Plus as Oerdin said:
Quote:
Building hospitals creates jobs, repairing existing hospitals creates jobs, hiring medical staff creates jobs, purchasing new medical equipment creates jobs
(someone has to build the machines & maintain them)...
The stimulus package is suppose to fund projects that will lead to long term economic growth....i.e. projects that have a much larger money multiplier effect down the road. Buying flu vaccines does not.
"The Senate bill includes $870 million to complete funding for the nation's pandemic influenza plan. It also includes $5.8 billion for prevention and wellness efforts, including $600 million to boost the healthcare, and $5 billion toward the modernization of health information technology.
TFAH said the Senate's stimulus bill includes funding to modernize the nation's capacity to respond to a pandemic outbreak, along with equipment and medications to detect, contain, and treat pandemic influenza."
Before you can buy flu vaccines, you have to make them and someone has to do the making, making flu vaccines is a job.
After you have the flu vaccine, you have to have someone store it, storing vaccine is a job.
After you have made the vaccine, and stored it, you need someone to monitor flu outbreaks, monitoring is a job.
Once someone with a job determines that there has been a flu outbreak, then someone else will have to start tracking the outbreak, tracking an outbreak is a job.
In order to prevent the spread of the outbreak, the public needs to be notified, notifying the public is a job.
To further prevent the outbreak of the flu, someone is going to have to use the vaccine that was made and stored, vaccinating the public is a job.
Not having the public in bed with the flew instead of at work results in greater productivity, in short jobs.
Silly me, thinking that jobs were the reason for the stimulus...
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