Monday, April 27, 2009

Flu Funds In Perspective

The Collins camp says that Sen. Collins' decision to block hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic flu preparedness funding hasn't hurt the current effort against the swine flu.

I'm certainly willing to accept that premise until we learn otherwise.

So in an important respect, the junior senator's unfortunate decision appears to be remediable.

But that makes it all the more important that we see Collins--who, remember, professes to support the flu funding--out there fighting for those dollars. And very very soon.

Is Collins willing to alienate Republican colleagues by not just standing up for public health spending but actually proposing legislation and then voting for it? Is she willing to risk something politically to do the important, serious work that the moment requires?

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