7 ms·

If the CDC merely urged that all large gatherings be cancelled, that would probably result in the cancellation of 95% of them, with no constitutional implicatio

If the CDC merely urged that all large gatherings be cancelled, that would probably result in the cancellation of 95% of them, with no constitutional implications.

macintux 7y ago
Can they at this point? It seems like their authority has been emasculated.
- Loughla 7y ago
  I don't understand what you mean by this.
  - morelisp 7y ago
    "Emasculated" is a bizarre word to use, but I assume it's in reference to Trump putting Pence, rather than anyone at the CDC or HHS, in charge of official messaging around COVID-19.
    - Loughla 7y ago
      Ah, I've been on a politics fast for a few days, so I missed that. Without devolving into an inevitable political shouting match, what would the purpose of that move be?
      - erikerikson 7y ago
        Signaling that it's being taken seriously at the "highest levels" to support confidence?
        evanelias 7y ago
        I wonder if it could also be an insurance strategy: if things go south, Pence takes all the blame and is booted from the 2020 ticket?
        Loughla 7y ago
        Pence exists to lock down the evangelical vote, there's no way he'll become a fall man. Although, that's traditional thinking, and this president is anything but traditional. So maybe you're right.
  - macintux 7y ago
    VP Pence has been given veto authority over all messaging, and the CDC’s funding in this area was gutted early in the administration.
    - adventured 7y ago
      The CDC's funding was not gutted in that area, that's a false propaganda point being shoveled by several prominent Democrats. Trump attempted to push cuts through and failed, fortunately. > AP FACT CHECK: Democrats distort coronavirus readiness > Democratic presidential contenders are describing the federal infectious-disease bureaucracy as rudderless and ill-prepared for the coronavirus threat because of budget cuts and ham-handed leadership by President Donald Trump. That’s a distorted picture. For starters, Trump hasn’t succeeded in cutting the budget. > He’s proposed cuts but Congress ignored him and increased financing instead. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aren’t suffering from budget cuts that never took effect. https://apnews.com/d36d6c4de29f4d04beda3db00cb46104 https://apnews.com/d36d6c4de29f4d04beda3db00cb46104
      - macintux 7y ago
        You’re correct that funding wasn’t impacted. I was wrong about that. However he did indeed cut the people tasked to deal with pandemics. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump... > But other White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated. > In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10.
- duxup 7y ago
  I'm pretty sure the CDC can "say" what they want.
  - boring_twenties 7y ago
    You'd hope so, but then we have this: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/us-coronavirus-pence.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/us-coronaviru... tl;dr- "directing them to coordinate all statements and public appearances with the office of Vice President Mike Pence"
- briandear 7y ago
  The CDC budget has not been cut. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485025-ap-fact-checkers-find-biden-bloomberg-paint-distorted-picture-on-trump-cdc https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485025-ap-fact-checkers-f...
  - macintux 7y ago
    The truth is more complex. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

If the CDC merely urged that all large gatherings be cancelled, that would probably result in the cancellation of 95% of them, with no constitutional implications.

macintux 7y ago

Can they at this point? It seems like their authority has been emasculated.

Loughla 7y ago
I don't understand what you mean by this.
- morelisp 7y ago
  "Emasculated" is a bizarre word to use, but I assume it's in reference to Trump putting Pence, rather than anyone at the CDC or HHS, in charge of official messaging around COVID-19.
  - Loughla 7y ago
    Ah, I've been on a politics fast for a few days, so I missed that. Without devolving into an inevitable political shouting match, what would the purpose of that move be?
    - erikerikson 7y ago
      Signaling that it's being taken seriously at the "highest levels" to support confidence?
      - evanelias 7y ago
        I wonder if it could also be an insurance strategy: if things go south, Pence takes all the blame and is booted from the 2020 ticket?
        Loughla 7y ago
        Pence exists to lock down the evangelical vote, there's no way he'll become a fall man. Although, that's traditional thinking, and this president is anything but traditional. So maybe you're right.
- macintux 7y ago
  VP Pence has been given veto authority over all messaging, and the CDC’s funding in this area was gutted early in the administration.
  - adventured 7y ago
    The CDC's funding was not gutted in that area, that's a false propaganda point being shoveled by several prominent Democrats. Trump attempted to push cuts through and failed, fortunately. > AP FACT CHECK: Democrats distort coronavirus readiness > Democratic presidential contenders are describing the federal infectious-disease bureaucracy as rudderless and ill-prepared for the coronavirus threat because of budget cuts and ham-handed leadership by President Donald Trump. That’s a distorted picture. For starters, Trump hasn’t succeeded in cutting the budget. > He’s proposed cuts but Congress ignored him and increased financing instead. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aren’t suffering from budget cuts that never took effect. https://apnews.com/d36d6c4de29f4d04beda3db00cb46104 https://apnews.com/d36d6c4de29f4d04beda3db00cb46104
    - macintux 7y ago
      You’re correct that funding wasn’t impacted. I was wrong about that. However he did indeed cut the people tasked to deal with pandemics. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump... > But other White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. And the government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated. > In May 2018, Trump ordered the NSC’s entire global health security unit shut down, calling for reassignment of Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer and dissolution of his team inside the agency. The month before, then-White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pressured Ziemer’s DHS counterpart, Tom Bossert, to resign along with his team. Neither the NSC nor DHS epidemic teams have been replaced. The global health section of the CDC was so drastically cut in 2018 that much of its staff was laid off and the number of countries it was working in was reduced from 49 to merely 10.
duxup 7y ago
I'm pretty sure the CDC can "say" what they want.
- boring_twenties 7y ago
  You'd hope so, but then we have this: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/us-coronavirus-pence.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/us-coronaviru... tl;dr- "directing them to coordinate all statements and public appearances with the office of Vice President Mike Pence"
briandear 7y ago
The CDC budget has not been cut. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485025-ap-fact-checkers-find-biden-bloomberg-paint-distorted-picture-on-trump-cdc https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485025-ap-fact-checkers-f...
- macintux 7y ago
  The truth is more complex. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]