October 5, 2014

The President recently stated that the chance of Ebola spreading in the U.S. was " extremely low" and yet it has arrived. The man who brought it over, Thomas Eric Duncan was granted a visa and lied when he stated he was not exposed. He was actually caring for a woman in Liberia who died of the disease. When we look at the big picture, the President’s policies have opened up the homeland to various diseases and possible epidemics not seen since the days of Typhoid Mary. While common sense should apply, he has taken actions which are uncommon and which are reflective of his crass political ideology. The first responsibility of the President is to protect the American public from all enemies foreign and domestic. That out include biological threats.    

The Bush Administration created a plan to respond to any out break disease or an epidemic. Part of that plan would give authority to the Centers for Disease Control to quarantine those who become ill and to limit flights from countries most as risk of spreading the epidemic to the U.S. This Obama administration quietly eliminated that plan claiming it was no longer necessary. The President who is preparing to unlawfully grant amnesty to millions who are illegally in the United States has refused to close the border to the so called "border children" and illegal aliens from those countries which were the hardest hit by Ebola virus. He has refused to order any restrictions on US airlines flying in and out of these countries and has continued to allow Americans to travel freely to these countries without being screened upon their return. He has even declined to temporarily suspend legal immigration from these countries until the virus is at least stabilized. He actually went ahead and gave authorization for Liberian nationals living in the US illegally to stay for up to 24 months even though he lacks the legal authority to do so. Yet he has declared Ebola to be a national security threat when sending three thousand American troops to assist international efforts in combating the disease. Why then is it ok to do nothing at home to protect Americans?

Opening up the border to the world has significance consequences. The United States has always screened immigrants before they were allowed to enter our country. When we look back at the history of Ellis Island, many were quarantined or actually turned away. By having a porous border, the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) is on the rise as is other diseases once thought to be eliminated within our borders. With the recent influx of  so called “immigrant children”, many were infected with scabies, TB, various communicable diseases, have no history of immunizations and were not adequately screened before being let loose in the interior of the U.S. The government reported that 70% have not returned for their immigration hearings, so how can they be adequately monitored? Is it any wonder that there is a virus spreading across the country affected children called the Enterovirus? The government of Barack Obama who placed tens of thousands of illegal immigrant children in every state is solely responsible for the outbreak.   

America has one of the safest blood supplies because of screening and testing. Those who are deemed high risk are also blocked from giving blood such IV drug users, those who have traveled to Africa and anyone who has engaged in homosexual sex. This is of course is based on a sound medical rational; limit unnecessary blood borne exposures to the U.S. blood supply. Certain behaviors have a extremely high rate of infection for AIDs and other communicable diseases. It has nothing to do with an animosity toward any particular group but rather public health and protecting all Americans equally. Even so, the Obama administration is supporting an effort to eliminate the prohibition of blood donation by those who engage in homosexual sex.. It's all about eliminating “the stigma” from one small group so that the entire population has to play Russian Roulette. The CDC’s most recent study noted that homosexual men account for 61% of all new AIDs infections (2010), 20% of all new syphilis infections and a higher risk of hepatitis while they account for less then 2 percent of the population. While AIDs testing has improved, it cannot exclude those who were recently exposed to AIDs.

Putting politics above pubic health is not just bad public policy, its morally wrong. The President has a duty to protect Americans instead to exposing the populace to disease and epidemics. Unless the President is prepared to act, its time for Congress to take action.