Rachel Maddow - Breakdowns at every step in Ebola response

[Galraedia]

[Gothmog]

1. Gov. Goodhair came off as an idiot

Goodhair is an idiot but I thought that he was going to try to hide his stupidity for this run at the GOP nomination

[Old Crow]

2. Important report from Maddow; good post

I'm guessing, but it wouldn't surprise me if the biohazard waste in Texas went uncollected for nine days because clean-up firms that had been contracted to clean it up kept failing to appear when employees refused the task.

This disconnect that Rachel discusses here is, I think, a contrast between national preparedness--where disaster scenarios are regularly considered and prepared for--and the state and local level, where they are not.

I do not understand why the federal government did not automatically take control of the site in Texas. Leaving it to local officials is absurd. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[DhhD]

3. Judge Jenkins said that Dallas County has been waiting on a Permit. Goodhair refused

Medicaid Expansion so the hospital was not set up by the Texas Health and Human Services to provide the healthcare to Duncan or the people he was staying with.

http://article.wn.com/view/2014/10/04/After_brush_with_Ebola_in_Dallas_family_faces_weeks_of_confi/

[DhhD]

4. There will be no Texas agency to pay this bill. See Texas Health and Human Services below.

http://yourtexasbenefits.hhsc.state.tx.us/programs/health/

[Old Crow]

5. Thanks for the info

That helps my understanding a little. What I still don't understand is why the federal government can't simply announce that it will be taking over the scene of any Ebola contamination and conducting the clean-up. I mean, heck: the FBI routinely takes over investigations from the local police if it's been determined that a serious enough crime has been committed. Why is something as important as our reponse to Ebola being left in the hands of the local authorities when they are so obviously unable to manage it?

Surely this can't be an issue of "States Rights," can it? I can't imagine that any state governments are zealously guarding their "right" to handle Ebola biohazard cleanup without federal interference.

I just don't get it.

[DhhD]

7. To my knowledge, Judge Jenkins is the Homeland Security representative for Dallas County.

[Demeter]

6. Nothing we haven't seen in other endeavors

Take our great effort to recover from the Collapse of 2008...please!

Nobody went to jail.
No laws were enacted to prevent future fraud.
No jobs program.
No relief for those who lost their homes.
No extended unemployment.
Daily hammering on those dependent on food stamps.
No universal single payer health care, just crappy pseudo-health insurance.

I could go on, but I won't.

[Old Crow]

8. You may be right.

Perhaps this is similar to the litany of stupidities you've provided. But there is a key difference: many of those failures to act sensibly in your list can be traced back to an unwillingness to do anything that might cost the establishment a buck. I don't see how the failure of the federal government to take control of an Ebola-related biohazard site profits anyone.

It just seems senseless. I can't find any reason why the feds aren't acting, not even bad ones.

[DhhD]

9. Here goes a bad one for you: Texas refused the $9 Billion dollar Medicaid Expansion to care

for any and all health matters not covered by ACA Plans. The persons sharing and living in the contaminated apartment could be housed at a hospital to be tested for Ebola so that EARLY treatment can begin if necessary. Containment and early treatment, would put the public more at ease and help the victims get through this much faster, which equals less cost to every one.

[Old Crow]

10. If I understand what you're saying...

... you're saying that Texas shot itself in the foot by refusing the Medicaid Expansion; had they not refused it, the state would be in a better position to provide monitoring and treatment of the people who may have been exposed to the virus.

Okay, got it: good point.

But I'm still not understanding why the feds didn't take control of the biohazard material clean-up. Sorry to sound like a broken record here, but unless I'm missing something, that question--a question screaming to be answered, IMHO--still hasn't been answered.

I'll do some more googling. Maybe I can find something. If I do, I'll report back here.

[DhhD]

15. Texas is not in compliance with Homeland Security public laws by not having set up for Biometerics

Only part of the responsibilities of Texas are pasted here. The link provides the complete list of the outline of how to stop bioterrorism (Liberia filing charges against Duncan). Haz Mat is mentioned as well as bioterrorism. Medicaid Expansion would make Texas be in compliance.

http://thsg.tamu.edu/expertise.htm

The THSG, as a group, is stronger than any one individual member. Below is a complete list of the groups expertise and capabilities.


•Prevent Capabilities
◦Bioinformatics, Biometrics
◦Border Security
◾Land Borders and Ports of Entry
◾Border crossings
◾"Smart Border Crossings"
◾POE Design and Operation
◾Impact Studies
◦Cultural and Linguistic Analysis
◦Economic Analysis
◾Life Cycle Cost Analysis
◾Leontief Input-Output Analysis
◾Cost Justification
◦Emerging Infectious Disease Detection
◦GIS/Geospatial Intelligence
◦Information Sharing and Dissemination
◦Intelligence Analysis and Production
◦Law Enforcement Investigation and Operations
◾Legal Infrastructure
◾Immigration, Transborder, Homeland Security
◾Security Informatics
◦Modeling and Simulation Analysis
◾Command and Control Simulations
◾Training Simulations
◾Situational Awareness
◾Terrorist Behavior Analysis
◾Transportation Systems Analysis
◦Public Policy
◦Risk Management
◦Sensors, Detection Devices, and Communications
◾Sensor Networking and Response
◾Communications Interoperability
◾Information Integration
◾Data Fusion
◾Tunnel and Ground Penetrating Identification Systems
◾Intrusion Detection
◾CBRNE Detection
◾Chem Biological Radiological Nuclear Emissions
◦Training and Education
◾Police and Security
◾EMS
◾Fire and Firemen
◾Water Rescue
◾Canine Training
◾HazMat
◾Oil and Gas Fires
◾Biomediation
◦Transportation Security
◾Shipping and Container Security
◾Rail Security
◾Infrastructure Protection
◾Airport Security
◾Land/Sea Port and Waterway Security
◦Vulnerability Analysis and Risk Assessment
◦Zoonotic Diseases, Food Chain, and Agriculture
◾Identification, Containment, Control, Remediation
◾Deterrence and Mitigation
◾Critical Link Analysis
◾“Plume” models and Infectious Migration Models
◾Economic Impact Modeling and Analysis
◾Command and Control; Situational Analysis; Resource Management
◾Food and Agricultural Safety and Defense
◾Disease Detection
◾Animal Health and Safety
◾Propagation via Highway/Rail network

[Demeter]

11. The phrase "Useless Eaters" comes to mind

How nifty is it to have a pandemic come through, wipe out the lower classes, and it's all the "will of God" and the 1% hands are clean, in their super-protected, gated communities....

[Demeter]

12. And think how much money is saved, by NOT doing anything!

[Old Crow]

13. Nah.

I don't know what the explanation is, but that's certainly not it. The 1% make far too much money off the masses to want to see them wiped out. We're the base of the pyramid; it's our labor they're skimming off of; where would the Waltons be if all the Walmart shoppers and underpaid Walmart employees were no more?

Even more to the point, consider the Great Plague. When it wiped out roughly a third of the population of Europe (or more, by some accounts), the aristocracy suddenly had to pay higher wages to masons, carpenters, tailors, weavers, cooks, and all the other trades. The labor pool had been decimated and wages rose, which was a tremendous boost to the middle class in the latter part of the 14th Century. So, no--standing by and letting the masses be wiped out by Ebola would most definitely NOT be part of the one-percenters' plans.

Also, I hasten to add that the chances of more than a dozen Americans dying from this Ebola flare-up are next to nil. If you want to read my take on the current Ebola situation, and the levels of risk involved, I've posted it here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5619321

Thanks.

[Demeter]

14. You truly over-estimate the native intelligence, intellect and historical grounding of the 1%

They are fixated on the next quarter and the next tax bill. They think robots can replace human workers and that's more wealth for them.

It's all different this time---that's their motto. (and they will have to work their butts off to keep it different...Nature has a way of evening out the scores). There are two emotional states for the Privileged: Fear, and Greed.

There's not enough fear, and far too much greed and it's been that way since Reagan.