Even when it is besieged and sweating bullets, the Bush administration never misses the chance to slavishly serve its corporate masters. Scandal and dishonor are a convenient distraction from their true calling of advancing the interests of corporate America over those of the American people. And when they are disingenuously peddling an appearance of concern for the people, like a child molester seducing his next victim, those are the times for us to be most wary.
Since Katrina, the Bush administration discovered poverty, and mouthed many pious words, which somehow led to billion dollar no-bid contracts for Halliburton and Bechtel, who seem to be "succeeding" on our Gulf Coast recovery about as effectively as they have in Iraq's reconstruction. Now with the media bleating about the bird flu that's bearing down on us, creating a full Code Red panic, of course it is time to dispense another round of goodies to Republican contributers under the guise of actually doing something that might help ordinary Americans.
In the proposed $7 billion plan announced to combat the much-hyped bird flu epidemic, one provision stands out and is rarely mentioned in the laundry list of seemingly public-spirited provisions: absolute protection from law suits for vaccine manufacturers.
The Bush wrecking crew says this is necessary to speed up delivery of vaccines because fear of law suits adds "unnecessary" obstacles to delivering vaccines to the public. Isn't it strange, that it's perfectly OK with the Right Wing when "competition" outsources people's jobs or "the market" drives gas prices go through the roof? But when Big Pharma might have to answer for its decisions in the courts, the marketplace and the stock market, it is protected from all liability? Economically speaking, they have "externalized their risk," and like the credit card companies, they want to charge you top dollar for their product, while simultaneously basically writing their obscene profits into the law itself.
Who benefits the most from this? Not surprisingly this is a scandal on the order of Big Tobacco standing up and swearing to Congress that their products were not addicting. Big Pharma has been seeking an absolute liability shield of years over the issue of their use of mercury in vaccines and the resulting dramatic increase in autism in American children.
For years vaccine manufacturer's have tried to debunk the claims that the mercury-based preservative Thermisol widely used in vaccines may be the root cause of the exploding rate of autism in American children, and perhaps may play a role in the onset of Alzheimer's in adults. As any reader of "Alice in Wonderland" has known for well over a hundred years, mercury is highly toxic, and exposure makes one as "mad as a hatter." Europe banned the use of mercury in vaccines long ago, but American companies persisted because it was cheaper than the alternatives, and added a few cents more profit to their bottom line.
The potential liability is huge, given that many, if not most, autistic children will require intensive life-long care. Any legal requirement establishing their liability could bankrupt vaccine producers, so like the oil companies and global warming, they continue to muddy the waters with junk science, while using their political clout to suppress the mounting evidence. And in so doing, the millions of American families requiring help to deal with the tragedy of autism are left holding the bag, just to protect corporate profits.
This is yet another reason why we need universal health care in this country. Until all Americans are guaranteed the care they need and families protected from the devastating consequences that a sick family member can have, companies will continue to try to evade responsibility for their role in making us sick. If they were not so likely to be forced out of business because of a mistake, it would be easier for them to come forward and be part of the solution, instead of remaining part of the problem.
Imagine that instead of the current $7 billion dollar program of corporate welfare for companies already nearly as profitable as the oil companies, that a truly effective "people's agenda" was enacted. Imagine community health clinics guaranteeing universal access virtually everywhere in America, urban and rural. Imagine preventative health education programs raising the average American's understanding of the simple and cheap ways they could make themselves more resistant to disease. Imagine something as simple as making sure every child got a multivitamin, and some fresh fruits and vegetables, every day. Imagine a national sick leave protection policy so that workers could stay home at the first sign of disease in themselves or their families, instead of spreading their germs to others because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
Instead, what we have is $7 billion dollars destined to end up as part of the corporate bottom line. And if FEMA's performance with Katrina and Wilma is any sign, we'll be hearing lots of excuses about why they failed any way to protect us. Instead, we hear about quarantines and martial law and the "end of life as we know it."
Global Warming? Terrorism? Iraq? Katrina? Bird flu? With the Bush administration the key to understanding their policies is ALWAYS: follow the money.