President Trump doesn’t have to do a whole lot in order to look better to conservatives than his predecessor, Obama. As long as he doesn’t put on his dunce cap and start hiring crooks and taking away people’s right to walk in and see their doctor, he’s pretty much set in that department. However, some Republicans are still pretty attached to the establishment and their candidates. There are a lot of loyal Bush supporters, and Trump might do well to take a little advice from his most recent Republican predecessor if he wants to win those folks over.
Former President Bush’s admonition to our current Commander in Chief has to do with a pet humanitarian project known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that has had the funding cut deeply in President Trump’s new proposed budget.
This is a program that has brought aid to Africa in a big way, saving almost 12 million lives by providing care that is mostly taken for granted here in the states. Along with the AIDS drugs, African women have received preventative and curative medicine for cervical cancer that has increased their survival rate exponentially for what is known in western culture as a mostly non-terminal illness.
Via the New York Times:
“I HOPE OUR GOVERNMENT, WHEN THEY ANALYZE WHAT WORKS AROUND THE WORLD, WILL UNDERSTAND THAT PEPFAR HAS SAVED OVER 11 MILLION LIVES,” MR. BUSH SAID, IN REMARKS HE WOULD REPEAT AGAIN AND AGAIN. “AND THAT WHILE PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE, WE’VE GOT TO CONTINUE TO STAY IN THIS BATTLE IN ORDER TO SAVE LIVES.”
Bush continued, in an op-ed in The Washington Post,
‘My administration launched PEPFAR in 2003 to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic that threatened to wipe out an entire generation on the continent of Africa. Nearly 15 years later, the program has achieved remarkable results in the fight against disease.
Today, because of the commitment of many foreign governments, investments by partners, the resilience of the African people and the generosity of the American people, nearly 12 million lives have been saved. And nearly 2 million babies have been born HIV-free to infected mothers.’
It’s understandable that President Trump might not feel the need to listen to any of the living former presidents about how to balance a budget, considering the mess that this country has found it’s self in financially.
However, there will still be aid dollars going out around the world, and this program has the look and feel of one that’s doing a lot of good in a traditionally overlooked region.
(Source: New York Times, Washington Post)