5 ms·

The joys of a conservative government.

by sg47 5y ago

gtvwill 5y ago
Not sure why you got downvotes but 100 percent Australia's slow ass Vax rollout is the result of a "conservative" government. Though they are closer to resembling an authoritarian corprotocracy rather than anything truly conservative or liberal.
- mikelward 5y ago
  I'm guessing because vaccinations are higher in several countries (UK, Germany, Israel, ?) where there are conservative governments. (And Trump did order a bunch of vaccines in the US.) So yes, probably because of this conservative government. Even because of these conservative governments (State and Federal). But not simply because of a conservative government.
- Overton-Window 5y ago
  Because progressive governments all over the world dropped the ball too. Didn't hear anyone attributing Australia's success to the conservative government when the country was being heralded as a miracle just a few months ago.
  - kwyjobojoe 5y ago
    If anything Australia's success was in spite of the federal government. Quarantine is a federal responsibility, and they keep shirking it just so they can blame state governments when covid escapes quarantine.
    - legostormtroopr 5y ago
      And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. The fact is the Australian federation model has an odd separation of responsibilities which makes this challenge uniquely difficult for Australia.
      - jackvalentine 5y ago
        > And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. The state governments haven't failed on health though? The federal government explicitly declined to let the states run the vaccination program in the way that they wanted and instead went GP-first (GPs being beholden effectively to the feds).
      - octodog 5y ago
        > And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. This is a nothing statement. The state based health services have generally been very well run, with the exception of contact tracing in Victoria during 2020. The federal health responsibilities (vaccines, quarantine and PPE provisioning) have all been spectacular failures.
- guidedlight 5y ago
  New Zealand is in exactly the same boat as Australia. Being a conservative government has nothing to do with the slow Vax rollout. Over-reliance on AstraZeneca is to blame with no plan B. NZ planned to use Australia’s AstraZeneca vaccines too, and has since dumped that plan altogether, has been scrapping together whatever Pfizer it can get and recently found a supply of the US’s unwanted J&J vaccines.
Overton-Window 5y ago
Yes, the conservative governments of Israel and the UK who overlooked mass vaccine rollouts did do a great job.
0xy 5y ago
The US was led by Trump of all people who didn't botch the vaccine rollout this badly, in fact he funded the record speed the vaccines were developed via Operation Warp Speed. The US arranged the development, logistics and rollout of a vaccine in less than 12 months. Under a conservative government.
- wahern 5y ago
  The Federal government 1) committed a ridiculous amount of money to vaccine purchases, 2) mostly stayed out of the way at least as far as vaccine development went, then 3) mechanically distributed vaccine shipments to each state government based on population. Nobody should get credit for #1. Few if any countries could have so easily burdened itself with that kind of debt. At the Federal level the entire political establishment in the U.S. barely blinks at spending tens of billions here or there. The Trump administration deserves some credit for #2 and #3, though suffice it to say it succeeded by ignoring and blocking high-level political officials' attempts to hijack the process. Mostly the success of the roll out, such as it is, from a logistical viewpoint is due to states. But early on there were plenty of people blaming their own state for fumbling allocation, tracking, and delivery of vaccines to healthcare providers. If anything, the U.S. could easily be blamed for the slow roll out of vaccinations around the world. We literally cornered the market by throwing money at pharmaceutical companies and requiring preferential allocation. And you could argue that we did so using their (the world's) money, considering how a not insignificant portion of the Federal deficit is financed by foreign investment.
  - 0xy 5y ago
    If the US didn't throw practically unlimited money at pharma and research companies, hedging their bets by buying a multitude of vaccines, it's easy to see that we wouldn't have a vaccine at all right now and we'd have 10x more death. In a world where third world countries are handily running rings around the Australian Government, it shows the emperor has no clothes. The US' bumbling bureaucracy, as dysfunctional as it was at the time and still is, leapt into action like a phoenix from mediocrity. It wasn't even just the vaccine, it was sourcing of masks, medical supplies and more. It's not perfect, but under 12 months is literally unprecedented and orders of magnitude faster than a vaccine has been developed, distributed and administered. Of course, this is highly unlikely to be Trump's competence rather than the competence of people he put in charge of the various pieces of the puzzle. But the results were clear. The entire media establishment, and "experts", claimed the speed at which it was actually delivered was impossible. I mean, let's take a look at NBC News' "fact check" from May 2020. "Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a 'miracle' to be right." [1] Those "experts" said a vaccine before mid-to-late 2021 would be a "miracle". [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-coronavirus-vaccine-could-come-year-trump-says-experts-n1207411 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-cor...
redis_mlc 5y ago
You're not even wrong. Trump is not a "conservative", he's a Trumpist (America-first Liberal.) He happens to lead the Republican Party, but that's mostly a coincidence. When you look at his policy decisions (vaccines, anti-CCP, border security, economic performance), he's the best US President in 75 years. All Biden had to do was to continue Trump's executive orders and sleep even longer than he already does.

The joys of a conservative government.

by sg47 5y ago

The joys of a conservative government.

Not sure why you got downvotes but 100 percent Australia's slow ass Vax rollout is the result of a "conservative" government. Though they are closer to resembling an authoritarian corprotocracy rather than anything truly conservative or liberal.

mikelward 5y ago
I'm guessing because vaccinations are higher in several countries (UK, Germany, Israel, ?) where there are conservative governments. (And Trump did order a bunch of vaccines in the US.) So yes, probably because of this conservative government. Even because of these conservative governments (State and Federal). But not simply because of a conservative government.
Overton-Window 5y ago
Because progressive governments all over the world dropped the ball too. Didn't hear anyone attributing Australia's success to the conservative government when the country was being heralded as a miracle just a few months ago.
- kwyjobojoe 5y ago
  If anything Australia's success was in spite of the federal government. Quarantine is a federal responsibility, and they keep shirking it just so they can blame state governments when covid escapes quarantine.
  - legostormtroopr 5y ago
    And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. The fact is the Australian federation model has an odd separation of responsibilities which makes this challenge uniquely difficult for Australia.
    - jackvalentine 5y ago
      > And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. The state governments haven't failed on health though? The federal government explicitly declined to let the states run the vaccination program in the way that they wanted and instead went GP-first (GPs being beholden effectively to the feds).
    - octodog 5y ago
      > And health is a state responsibility - yet people were all too willing to throw Scotty from Marketing under the bus on that. This is a nothing statement. The state based health services have generally been very well run, with the exception of contact tracing in Victoria during 2020. The federal health responsibilities (vaccines, quarantine and PPE provisioning) have all been spectacular failures.
guidedlight 5y ago
New Zealand is in exactly the same boat as Australia. Being a conservative government has nothing to do with the slow Vax rollout. Over-reliance on AstraZeneca is to blame with no plan B. NZ planned to use Australia’s AstraZeneca vaccines too, and has since dumped that plan altogether, has been scrapping together whatever Pfizer it can get and recently found a supply of the US’s unwanted J&J vaccines.

Overton-Window 5y ago

Yes, the conservative governments of Israel and the UK who overlooked mass vaccine rollouts did do a great job.

0xy 5y ago

The US was led by Trump of all people who didn't botch the vaccine rollout this badly, in fact he funded the record speed the vaccines were developed via Operation Warp Speed. The US arranged the development, logistics and rollout of a vaccine in less than 12 months. Under a conservative government.

wahern 5y ago
The Federal government 1) committed a ridiculous amount of money to vaccine purchases, 2) mostly stayed out of the way at least as far as vaccine development went, then 3) mechanically distributed vaccine shipments to each state government based on population. Nobody should get credit for #1. Few if any countries could have so easily burdened itself with that kind of debt. At the Federal level the entire political establishment in the U.S. barely blinks at spending tens of billions here or there. The Trump administration deserves some credit for #2 and #3, though suffice it to say it succeeded by ignoring and blocking high-level political officials' attempts to hijack the process. Mostly the success of the roll out, such as it is, from a logistical viewpoint is due to states. But early on there were plenty of people blaming their own state for fumbling allocation, tracking, and delivery of vaccines to healthcare providers. If anything, the U.S. could easily be blamed for the slow roll out of vaccinations around the world. We literally cornered the market by throwing money at pharmaceutical companies and requiring preferential allocation. And you could argue that we did so using their (the world's) money, considering how a not insignificant portion of the Federal deficit is financed by foreign investment.
- 0xy 5y ago
  If the US didn't throw practically unlimited money at pharma and research companies, hedging their bets by buying a multitude of vaccines, it's easy to see that we wouldn't have a vaccine at all right now and we'd have 10x more death. In a world where third world countries are handily running rings around the Australian Government, it shows the emperor has no clothes. The US' bumbling bureaucracy, as dysfunctional as it was at the time and still is, leapt into action like a phoenix from mediocrity. It wasn't even just the vaccine, it was sourcing of masks, medical supplies and more. It's not perfect, but under 12 months is literally unprecedented and orders of magnitude faster than a vaccine has been developed, distributed and administered. Of course, this is highly unlikely to be Trump's competence rather than the competence of people he put in charge of the various pieces of the puzzle. But the results were clear. The entire media establishment, and "experts", claimed the speed at which it was actually delivered was impossible. I mean, let's take a look at NBC News' "fact check" from May 2020. "Fact check: Coronavirus vaccine could come this year, Trump says. Experts say he needs a 'miracle' to be right." [1] Those "experts" said a vaccine before mid-to-late 2021 would be a "miracle". [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-coronavirus-vaccine-could-come-year-trump-says-experts-n1207411 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fact-check-cor...

redis_mlc 5y ago

You're not even wrong. Trump is not a "conservative", he's a Trumpist (America-first Liberal.) He happens to lead the Republican Party, but that's mostly a coincidence. When you look at his policy decisions (vaccines, anti-CCP, border security, economic performance), he's the best US President in 75 years. All Biden had to do was to continue Trump's executive orders and sleep even longer than he already does.