There are two running themes that really bother me about this swine flu stuff, one from Democrats and one from Republicans.

First is something that popped up recently from the Democratic side that tries to place blame and outrage on Republicans arguing that, because Republicans opposed a $900 million to fight pandemics proposed as part of the economic stimulus, we are all inhuman monsters.

I can break this down real quick:

a) If this was so important to Democrats they would have proposed and passed it somewhere other than an economic STIMULUS. I don’t see how pandemic funding is a STIMULUS for the overall economy. Do some work, pass multiple pieces of legislation, you can easily take less vacation and work an entire week to debate this stuff.

b) There is absolutely no evidence that we are lacking in ability to handle this outbreak. Actually quite the opposite. We have been finding and treating cases quickly. There is no evidence that the $900 million that would have been approved just a couple months ago would have made our response any quicker.

Let us be real here, this wasn’t some prescient moment of clarity for Democrats and some ruthless attempt by Republicans to spread disease. Democrats are just running with the same tired line of argument that says if you spend more of the publics money on more government that must equate to better government. Because of this you can always find something a Democrat wanted to spend more money on in time of crisis because there seems to be no end in sight on ways they want to cash in on your dollars.

I would like the left to tell me how exactly the Obama administration is failing in their efforts and how $900 million would have made the difference. I dare you, tell me. It is silly to undermine your own efforts in this way, Government is actually doing what it is supposed to right now, maybe you should sit back and be happy it is and let the administration take credit if it works out. So far they didn’t need the $900 million, they just needed to do their jobs.

The second part is an argument spreading in Republican circles that a lack of a Surgeon General or head of the CDC is a real problem and evidence of ineptitude. Again, I see no evidence that we aren’t in control of this situation. We are identifying cases, treating them, I don’t know how having a few more bureaucrats would make any difference. Would one more Janet Napolitano only heading a different department really have stopped the spread of swine flu? No of course not.

Last I checked being a conservative meant opposing the spread of government. If we don’t actually face a widespread pandemic in this country maybe it is evidence that we don’t really need a Surgeon General in the first place. Perhaps CDC can be run out of Homeland without an individual politician to attend fancy dinners and go on TV. If we can brave this storm with 19 supposedly important jobs empty, maybe we don’t need those jobs in the first place. Win-win, our country is safe and we have one more argument against government growth!

Really now, grow up. It is very early and we don’t yet know