White House Redirects $589M In Funds To Fight Zika Virus (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The White House said on Wednesday it will redirect $589 million in funds to prepare for the Zika virus before the mosquito that carries it begins to emerge in the continental United States, but urged Congress to act quickly on its request for more money. Most of the $589 million will come from $2.7 billion in funds set aside for public health projects aimed at the Ebola virus. White House budget director Shaun Donovan said the use of money previously provided for fighting another health crisis, the Ebola virus, was only a temporary fix for Zika funding. Donovan said some measures to fight Zika would have to be delayed, curtailed or stopped unless the U.S. Congress approves more than $1.8 billion in emergency funds requested by the Obama administration in February. The Zika virus, linked to a growing number of cases of the birth defect microcephaly in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean and heading north as the weather gets warmer.

Comments

Why should I have to pay?

[rsilvergun]

Why should I have to pay for Zika virus containment when I'm not anywhere that needs it? And if I am shouldn't I pay for my own containment and not everybody elses?

OK, ok, I'm trolling. But I've actually had these conversation with people. It's not usually about anything as scary as viruses. But try getting anyone to agree to national infrastructure spending. Obama almost lost the US Prez election with his "You didn't build it" comment trying to find a way to say the things you do for your fellow citizens benefit you too. Damned if I know a way to communicate that and not just get shouted down. It doesn't help that the other side has billions in dollars and focus groups to figure out how to get their message across (Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, etc) :(...