The Funny Papers

Michael de Adder, Adam Zyglis, Jesse Duquette, Bill Day, Gary Huck, Ed Wexler, Max Espinoza, Christopher Shields, Tim Campbell, Jack Othman,

Meme Dump

Good News: Increased Funding For ADAP

Finally, some good news for those who are HIV+ or have AIDS.

This past Monday, the federal government announced that  it has allocated nearly $2 billion in funding to states to fight the HIV epidemic, with access to care and with more cash for the failing AIDS Drug Assistance Program [ADAP].

According to an Health and Human Services  press release, $813 million of that money will go directly to ADAP programming, while an additional $8.3 million will be issued as a supplement to 36 states and territories currently facing a crisis of unmet needs and access issues. The additional money is designed to help those programs reduce or eliminate their waiting lists.

ADAP provides access to the costly anti-retroviral medications that have turned HIV into a more manageable disease; many HIV drugs can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year in the US. ADAP also assists in paying for drugs to treat opportunistic infections that HIV+ persons can suffer as a result of diminished immune functions.

This is great news for those people on a "waiting list" to see if they can get their medications. As of September 22, 2010, there were some 9,000, in ten states--including South Carolina--on waiting lists.

In addition to allocating new funds to ADAP, the feds also announced millions in funding for direct medical care as well as programming to assist minorities--who are particularly hard hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic--in accessing medical care for the infection.

Finally, it seems, someone is listening.
 
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Let's Settle The Argument......

Anyone notice any savings during the Bush Regime?
Anyone notice the difference in spending between Bush's 8 years, and Obama's projected 8 years?
So, let's stop all this nonsense about Obama being a spend-a-holic, when, in fact,m he inherited the debt from a true spending fiend.

NJ Governor Christie Is EXACTLY What's Wrong With The GOP

There is a sense of entitlement among many members--to be fair, not all members--of the GOP. There is a sense of Do as I say, not as I do among members of the GOP. There is a sense of hypocrisy among certain members of the GOP. And nowhere is that evidence of hypocritical, self-entitled arrogance more plainly on display than in the actions of ALLEGED fiscal conservative, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. 


See, Christie's son, Andrew, was playing in a college baseball tournament recently and, like any good dad, Christie wanted to attend the game. So he did. He arrived at the game aboard a STATE POLICE helicopter, and then took a limousine the rest of the way. 


Fans heard the whrrr of the 55-foot long STATE POLICE helicopter and watched it land beyond the trees behind left field. Governor Christie got off the helicopter and then got into a limo with tinted windows that drove him about a 100 yards to the baseball field. 


Yes, he helicoptered in and the had someone drive him 300 feet. And, of course, as governor, he's so busy trying to fix the economy and rein in wasteful government spending that, during the fifth inning,  he and First Lady Mary Pat Christie got back into the limousine, drove the 300 feet, boarded the STATE POLICE helicopter and went home. Play was stopped for a couple of minutes while the helicopter took off. 


Now, how does a governor, who paints himself as a fiscal conservative, justify using a STATE POLICE helicopter to fly into a baseball game? Well, for starters you have one of your lackeys, in this case spokesmoron Michael Drewniak, release a statement: "It is a means of transportation that is occasionally used as the schedule demands. This has historically been the case in prior administrations as well, and we continue to be judicious in limiting its use." 


Okay, a "means of transportation that is occasionally used". I can buy that, if say, the governor was visiting the site of a natural disaster, or traveling state-to-state for New Jersey business. But to use a STATE POLICE helicopter to go to your son's baseball game is the height of arrogance, and self-entitlement and hypocrisy. 


The helicopter Christie used for his day trip cost the taxpayers of New Jersey 12.5 million dollars to buy. They are designed for homeland security duties and transporting critically injured patients, and, apparently, to ferry the governor to sporting events. It also cost the taxpayers $3,300 for that single trip, and Christie said he would not be paying any of that money himself. 


Seriously. He flew in a $12 million helicopter, spending $3,300 of the taxpayers money and sees absolutely nothing wrong with it? In fact, his only real comment was that his son, Andrew, thanked him for coming to the game. Thanks Dad, for screwing your constituents so you could watch me play. 


But then, after hearing the outcry of not only the Democratic party, but the people of New Jersey, Christie finally broke down and paid for the ride, using $2,100 of his own money and $1,200 from the GOP. Christie said he was paying not because he believed he was in the wrong, but because the furor had become a distraction from serious matters. 


Like the economy. You know that bad situation where people are losing their jobs and their homes, or are struggling to make ends meet by working two and three jobs and missing their own children's sporting events, while the governor is flown to and from his own son's game, and then charges the taxpayers for it? 


Seriously, people, this is a man who is being courted to run for president in 2012, by people who think Obama has bungled the economic mess. Yes, they want a man so self-entitled, so arrogant, so hypocritical, so out-of-touch, to be the next president. 


That's your GOP.

Christie Arrives At Son's Baseball Game In State Police Helicopter
Christie Reimburses State For Helicopter Trips To Son’s Ballgames