Huh. How about that
(Breitbart) Thursday night on Fox News,Charles Krauthammer predicted that it would only take “a couple more cases like Mr. Duncan” flying to the United States from West Africa with Ebola for the president to back down from his no travel ban position.
But ifJudicial Watch’ssources are correct, Obama’s open door policy for people coming from Ebola infected countries, may creak opena little widerto allow the transfer of non-US citizensinfected with the diseaseinto the country for treatment.
It is unclear who would bear the high costs of transporting and treating non-citizen Ebola patients. The plans include special waivers of laws and regulations that ban the admission of non-citizens with a communicable disease as dangerous as Ebola.
JW goes on to note
One source tells us that the Obama administration is keeping this plan secret from Congress. The source is concerned that the proposal is illegal; endangers the public health and welfare; and should require the approval of Congress.
Would Obama do this? Nobody could put it past him to engage in this conduct, based on almost 6 years of his history in the White House. Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle notes in a separate article that Senate Republicans sitting on the Judiciary Committee have written to Obama saying he should stop issuing visas to Ebola ravaged countries immediately.
The Republicans quoted Obama from his Sept. 16 speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta.
“Now, here’s the hard truth: In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. It’s spiraling out of control,†Obama said then. “It is getting worse. It’s spreading faster and exponentially. Today, thousands of people in West Africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands. And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected, with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us. So this is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security — it’s a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the disease.â€
They wrote that they agree with Obama that it’s a national security issue, and that as such it is imperative that Obama institute a travel ban immediately.
“We couldn’t agree more that an Ebola epidemic is a national security issue, and a threat to global security,†the GOP Judiciary Committee senators wrote. “And, we couldn’t agree more with the American people that a travel ban must be put in place to protect our homeland and reduce any spread of the virus. According to officials at the State Department, between March 1, 2014, and September 27, 2014, a total of 6, 398 visas were issued to nationals of the following countries; 3,135 for Liberians, 1,472 for Sierra Leoneans, and 1,791 for Guineans. Meanwhile, according to International SOS, dozens of countries – including many in Africa – have instituted travel and entry restrictions.â€
He won’t. What he will do is turn the issue into a political fight. Why did he pick Ron Klain to be the new “Ebola Czar”, despite zero medical background? For the same reason. Politics. People are speechless at the pick…well, metaphorically, because lots are blasting this pick. This will soon (looking into my crystal ball) cause Obama to start blasting “Congressional Republicans”.
BTW, Obama trots out a little strawman during his Weekly Address
Finally, we can’t just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging. Our medical experts tell us that the best way to stop this disease is to stop it at its source-before it spreads even wider and becomes even more difficult to contain. Trying to seal off an entire region of the world-if that were even possible-could actually make the situation worse. It would make it harder to move health workers and supplies back and forth. Experience shows that it could also cause people in the affected region to change their travel, to evade screening, and make the disease even harder to track.
Wait, what? We need to stop it at its source, yet we shouldn’t seal off the area? Of course, what people are demanding is that the US government restrict flights coming from the Ebola ravaged areas. To, you know, stop the spread.
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be [READ MORE HERE] […]
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be no-travel ban for West African countries infected with Ebola — because “medical experts” tell him that would be a bad [READ MORE HERE] […]
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be no-travel ban for West African countries infected with Ebola — because “medical experts” tell him that would be a bad [READ MORE HERE] […]
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be no-travel ban for West African countries infected with Ebola — because “medical experts” tell him that would be a bad idea. […]
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be no-travel ban for West African countries infected with Ebola — because “medical experts” tell him that would be a bad idea. […]
“We need to stop it at its source, yet we shouldn’t seal off the area? Of course, what people are demanding is that the US government restrict flights coming from the Ebola ravaged areas. To, you know, stop the spread.”
Would you restrict the flights of aid workers in and out?
How about supply planes in and out?
How would you enforce the travel ban?
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be no-travel ban for West African countries infected with Ebola — because “medical experts” tell him that would be a bad idea. […]
[…] In his Weekly Radio Address, Saturday, President Obama continued his longstanding practice of justifying unpopular policy decisions by claiming the “experts” agree with him. There can be no-travel ban for West African countries infected with Ebola — because “medical experts” tell him that would be a bad idea. […]
Anonymous sources on a minor far-right-wing hysteria website. Horribly typical.
Here in a nutshell from HuffPo’s Jason Linkins are the reasons not to have a counterproductive travel ban:
“A travel ban would impede the efforts of those who are trying to contain the disease in West Africa — where, unlike America, there is an actual outbreak. Citizens of those nations would be harder to trace and could be more inclined to withhold the truth from officials. Isolating those nations would impose an unnecessary financial burden on the affected area, and could create the sort of public unrest that would imperil the fragile governing institutions in the region. Overall, the travel ban is a policy that would likely make containing the outbreak more difficult, ratcheting up the probability of a more serious episode on these shores.”
Of course, the weak Obama will eventually give in and enact a travel ban to shut up the FOX noise.
There ya go. Attack the messenger rather than dealing with the substance.
Tell us Jeffery, do you think NBC. ABC, CBS, CNN, HuffPo, Daily Kos and the left should have to report sources? Or do you think that only sources that contradict what you believe have to disclose sources?
Why do you hate the First Amendment and freedom Jeffery?
HuffPo writers are just as uninformed as you are Jeffery.
Nigeria squashed the virus by aggressively tracking patients and limiting travel.
Of course, the US is a little different where we don’t track anyone because that would be “profiling.”
So we have a choice of doing what has worked in the past or doing what liberals want which hasn’t worked.
Not surprisingly, you choose what doesn’t work.
Teach,
Do you have an outline for what a travel ban from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone would look like?
There are no direct flights from those nations so that’s not a problem.
Would there be special arrangements for aid workers, who are most likely to be infected? How about for suppliers?
Experts in epidemics and infectious diseases think that a travel ban is counterproductive. Why should we value the opinion of Rush Limbaugh over the experts?
The unsigned Judicial Watch “piece” refers to a “source”. No one at Judicial Watch had the courage to take responsibility for their typings.
An unidentified person on a right-wing blog cites an anonymous “source” making an outrageous and unverifiable claim. Excuse me for not taking this seriously.
You think that my discrimination is attacking the messenger? LOL. Used car salesmen probably order a new boat when they see you walk into the dealership.
Mr. Linkins signed his post and supplied links to his 12 “sources”.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/16/ebola-travel-ban_n_5997726.html
And Mr. Linkins did not make any unsupported and unverifiable outrageous claims. Judicial Watch wouldn’t even identify their typist!
See the difference? Of course not.
Nice strawman. Really. You didn’t address the point that was raised, and that is typical with you.
I appreciate that you try to find any reason to dismiss things that you don’t agree with.
After all, since you have admitted that you are a liar and therefore incapable of honest discussions, you cannot be taken seriously on any subject that comes out of your mouth.
How to enforce a travel ban?
Don’t people still have to use a passport for international travel? Don’t these passports have a record of what countries the traveler has visited and when? I know this won’t keep all people who have been to West Africa out but it will keep most out and make it much more difficult for them to reach the US illegally.
How to get aid workers to the affected area?
Charter flights whose passengers are closely monitored before, during and after their trip? A travel ban does not mean that all travel to the countries is banned, just casual travel. Aid workers, medical personnel and others qualified to deal with the outbreak would still be allowed to travel.
Nighthawk,
Thank you. Seems reasonable. How does this compare to what is going on now?