neo cons scrap new radiation poisoning medicine

[donsu]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/195


Major Bush Homeland Security Program Suffering "Major Breakdown"


A major Bush counter-terrorism initiative was called into serious question when the Department of Health and Human Services scrapped a contract yesterday for a new medicine to treat radiation poisoning.


On July 21, 2004, George W. Bush signed into law the $6 billion Project BioShield "to improve medical countermeasures protecting Americans against a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack," which he first proposed in his 2003 State of the Union address.

Years later, "the future of Project BioSheild remains uncertain," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Thompson said the program's credibility was dealt a "serious blow" last December when it canceled its largest contract for a next-generation anthrax vaccine. The latest failure over the radiation treatment represents "another major breakdown with the project."

"What's next?" Thompson asked.

The pharmaceutical company developing the anti-radiation drug was dumbfounded by the government's sudden reversal after the company had been told for months that its proposal was competitive. "This comes as a complete surprise to us," said the company's founder and chairman. "We were always told that we met or exceeded the requirements."

100,000 radiation victims could have been treated by the medicine ordered in the contract, but many more people are now in greater risk from other disasters. Rep. James Langevin said the move will discourage other companies from trying to participate in the BioShield program.

Rep. Langevin will lead subcommittee hearings into the matter next month.
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they want us to die?

they want a more loyal pharma co. to have the contract?

they are insane?

they need that money for something else?

[kestrel91316]

1. See here's the plan: Start a government program, don't do anything

actually useful with the money, just figure out how to siphon it out of the taxpayers' pockets and directly into the pockets of major corporate friends of Bushco. Voila!

I'm thinking oversight could show that the money for the program is all mysteriously gone already, paying for various and sundry outsourced contract work to investigate the possibilities........but you see no actual contracts to BUY anything. The entire point of this Bush program, like so many others, is to waste money while doing NOTHING productive.

Never forget Grover Norquist's words:
We want to shrink government down so small that we can drown it in a bathtub.

And they're on the drowning part now.