Bush cut his promised AIDS fund by 33%
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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 ec-
static about the promise to pump $3 billion a year into combat-
ing 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."