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THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1316866&l=11608
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WALL STREET JOURNAL: PRESIDENT BACKS OFF PLEDGE TO FUND GLOBAL AIDS FIGHT
The Wall Street Journal today reports, "President Bush plans to ask Congress
for relatively small funding increases to fight AIDS and poverty in the
developing world, stepping back from his highly publicized pledge to spend
huge sums to help fight them." The President's decision is just the latest
step in a calculated effort to slowly - but surely - abandon his own
commitment to fully fund the global fight against AIDS.
Just last year in his State of the Union speech, the President said "I ask
the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years...to turn the
tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
Seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many."
At face value, it was an historic request, with Congress and AIDS activists
ecstatic about the promise to pump $3 billion a year into combating AIDS
throughout the world. U2 Singer Bono, who has been one of the leaders of the
AIDS fight, "hailed" the President's speech, saying "If we can turn the
president's bold long term vision into near term results we're excited,"
adding, "any delay in increased funding means more lives lost and an even
bigger check in the future."
Unfortunately, as the LA Times reported, just five days later, the President
introduced a budget in which he "only sought $2 billion for the year" for
AIDS - 33% less than he had promised. The Senate later voted to increase the
President's request, and Bono visited with the President to urge him to keep
his promise. Nonetheless, the White House "repeated its strong opposition to
any funding beyond $2 billion" while claiming with a straight-face that the
President was doing all he could. When questioned about the discrepancy,
White House spokesman Scott McClellan simply refused to address the issue,
saying only "The President has shown unprecedented leadership in the fight
against AIDS."
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