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If this is a serious question: People wanted the Federal government to act as a single purchaser to source and transparently distribute material to the states,
by kec 6y ago
If this is a serious question: People wanted the Federal government to act as a single purchaser to source and transparently distribute material to the states, leveraging efficiencies of scale and a view of the whole situation.
No one was asking for the federal government to seize already purchased material and do things with it with zero transparency or accountability.
- Natsu 6y agoWell, they didn't actually seize anything here, they figured out that some shipment from China was going to hospitals instead of being intended for resale, then let those hospitals have it once things were straightened out. The only question is how this transaction got wrongly flagged to begin with.
- coleca 6y agoFrom the article it sounds like it was a pretty clandestine operation to begin with. He admits to paying 5x the normal prices for the masks, was picking them up in trucks marked as food service, taking different routes, etc. This is exactly the kind of shady transaction the government should be investigating. It could have just as easily been some price speculator buying those masks for all the Feds knew. Once they were assured it wasn't they let it go. The speculation about DHS was a little vague. The doctor explains at the end of this short interview that he was actually appreciative of the FBI for intervening and why they did: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/04/20/dr-andrew-artenstein-fbi-questions-masks-purchase-intv-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/coronavirus/ https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/04/20/dr-andrew-arten...
- watwut 6y ago"No one" is a bit overstatement. Someone is asking exactly for that. And federal government is complying with that request.