Tuesday on “CBS This Morning,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) blamed Republicans for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa by suggesting funding cuts to certain programs were the culprit.
“Instead of making those investments up front, we wait until people die,” Warren said. “Of course I’m worried, but part of this reminds me — this is why elections matter and why they matter over time. you know, Ebola is not new. We’ve known about it for a long time. We were putting money into funding Ebola many years ago and the republicans have cut funding overall for medical research, for the National Institute of Health, and Ebola has not been a priority. So now we’re in a position where instead of making those investments up front, we wait until people die. Now we’re going to spend billions of dollars. and some real risk to our country. We can’t just run this country one crisis to another. What congress is supposed to do is help us make the investments early and make sure that it keeps us all safe.”
Warren did not point out, however, in 2014 the Republican-controlled House increased CDC spending $300 million more than was requested by President Barack Obama, to $567 million. Since 2000, the CDC budget has increased from $3.5 billion to $6.8 billion.
Warren also attempted to blame the Obama’s unpopularity on Republicans to which “CBS This Morning” host Charlie Rose protested.
“Why is the president so unpopular?” Rose asked.
Warren replied, “Let’s remember that the Republicans said we’re going to do everything we can to make him a failed president. We’re going to block every move.”
Rose interrupted, “So the president’s unpopular because of Republicans?”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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