THE HILL
 

Wall Street banks get swine flu vaccine while many children and pregnant women can't

By Brent Budowsky - 11/05/09 10:22 AM ET

Now we learn that while many kids, hospitals and pregnant women cannot get enough of the swine flu vaccine, the major banks and Wall Street firms were given a private allocation. At best, this is a ridiculous distribution strategy; at worst, these firms gave some vaccines not to high-risk people but to high-profit traders and senior managers.

This morning I contacted two very senior Democrats and the White House and strongly urged the president to designate his staff to perform a general audit or monitoring to determine exactly whom the banks and Wall Street firms gave the vaccines to.

I am not accusing anyone of anything, though this policy is bad management at best and does not do well on the smell test. What I am suggesting is that the president and the nation need to determine the truth of how these firms distributed the vaccine.

Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-a-budget/66503-wall-street-banks-get-swine-flu-vaccine-while-many-children-and-pregnant-women-cant

Comments (15)

Brent, do you think those in power and those sympathetic to the Government policies would get better health treatment once Government is in charge of our health care? I mean, given the fact that our resources are limited. Just curious.BY Bzdashek on 11/05/2009 at 10:41
Women and children first?More like fat-cat bankers and traders first. Is the position of our nation's wealthiest citizens really THAT exclusive? Where are our priorities in this country?BY Mike on 11/05/2009 at 10:56
Since the government bailed the banks out with the taxpayer's money it only follows naturally that those same groups would be further protected by the Obama Administration. Frankly Brent, at this point, the Obama White House staff has probably pigeon holed you as a nut. Further, one wonders what the Obamas know that they won't use the Swine Flu vaccine on their own children. Perhaps that explains why they want the bankers to take it Brent. Sometimes you have to look beyond the headlines. Real journalists who haven't lost their way on the yellow brick road know that. The Obama administration originally planned to send 10% of the flu vaccine overseas. You didn't complain about that. Let's face it, the Obama White House is a bunch of kids playing the game of reality. They're not playing it well because they don't understand the rules.BY Robert Rosencrans on 11/05/2009 at 11:02
My sister use to say "money talks and 'bu____it' walks." Maybe Robert is right, maybe they are giving it to them specifically because it won't work. And, by the way, we are all probably categorized as "nut jobs." All I know is that I have a genetic autoimmune lung disease and a heart condition and I cannot get a swine flu shot anywhere. There are none to be had. The swine flu will probably be through the population of this country before the required amount of vaccinations are available and distributed. The government has so badly screwed this up! What is truly amazing is the ability of Democrats to obfuscate the truth as they will probably call this piece "right-winged" propaganda. People were on Bush's case about every little thing, one cannot help but see the inequities. Anyway, I say "You Go, Brent!" If we don't get this information from you, then we won't get it at all.BY Read on 11/05/2009 at 11:54
Brent, I am not sure you want to go there and push for investigations. What if it turns out that these bankers and Wall Street investment firms were large Obama donors (assuming vaccine works). If vaccine is harmful, these guys could be Republican donors. Ha! Behind the Iron Curtain back in the Cold War era, whenever one visited secret police or other Government agency he was strongly advised not to eat nor drink anything while being there. Just in case. I personally will not be getting this vaccine nor administering it to my family. I'd rather wash my hands, stay away from public places and drive my SUV to avoid public places. Just like our VP Biden has suggested.BY Bzdashek on 11/05/2009 at 12:14
Does anyone think for a second that the top execs at every one of the health insurance companies have not already been vaccinated? At our expense?BY Greg Laden on 11/05/2009 at 12:16
And you were wondering where your $700 billion went. Pitchforks, anyone?BY Greg on 11/05/2009 at 12:38
BRENT: Hi There! Maybe I will take the devil's advocate point of view. I don't see that giving top traders the vaccine as a bad decision. I see it as a sound judgement call. After what we've been through this year can this country risk it's best and brightest succumbing to the virus if it should lead to another assault on the ecomomy? I see it as vccinating our economy which does touch everyone. The health industry asked it's front line of MDs and Nurses to do the same thing. This avoids potential chaos in both industries…BY JFK-HRC on 11/05/2009 at 13:17
Probably it's just a way to get shots to lots of at-risk people who contact many, many people a day. Remember that it is important an influenza vaccine get to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, for public safety — to keep the number of cases down and so reduce the opportunities to catch it. Getting the first shots to people at risk is just another consideration. Downtown and Midtown New York seem to me obvious places where you would want people to get shots, because during the day you have huge numbers of people in close proximity to each other, who in the evening spread out all over the Megalopolis.Were I president I think I wouldn't waste my resources on this one, even if Brent Budowsky were begging me. :) (Of course, I'd already be spending my resources going after Wall Street for _good_ reasons.)BY Barry Schwartz on 11/05/2009 at 16:11
So—bankers and high risk traders who preyed upon the general populace, caused this debacle, and were bailed out by the same people they so blatantly sucked the blood out have now gotten a vaccine which is in short supply to infants and children?!?! This is wrong for so many reasons and on so many levels that I can even begin to address them in such a small space.BY Narees Breach on 11/05/2009 at 18:45

Add Comment

Name (required)

E-Mail (will not be published) (required)

Your Comments

You need Flash Player 8 (or higher) and JavaScript enabled to view this content

Get latest news from The Hill direct to your inbox, RSS reader and mobile devices.