Bush; a good or bad speech?

[Jon Miller]

spin?

Jon Miller

[Fidel]

Originally posted by Ned
Near the end of the speedh, Bush seemed to become very serious.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger

I must be stupid or something. Why would the US block an international deal to supply African nations with cheap medicine not that long ago if W. really cares about these people?

I'm not sure what you are referring to, but it was probably one of those deals where U.S. pharmacutical companies take it up the a$$ while the international group congratulates itself on how generous it is. I bet Bush's plan uses American taxpayer money to pay a better price for the drugs.

[Lancer]

Ya, good speech, my butt is rallied. I want to go to Baghdad and personnally shoot that paper hanging SOB.

[Jac de Molay]

So is Bush only going to support AIDs prevention program that support abstinence only?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Why would the US block an international deal to supply African nations with cheap medicine not that long ago if W. really cares about these people?

Because he wants to see the pharmacutical companies willing to make drugs for diseases in the future, rather than say forget it because some international group is just going to take it away and cause the company to lose massive amounts of money?

[Urban Ranger]

How are they going to lose massive amounts of money if the people in Africa can't afford to buy the drugs without deep discounts in the first place? Has any pharmacutical companies gone backrupt because of that? If not, where did you get that "lose massive amounts of money" from?

[DaShi]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
I make it a point NOT to watch State of the Union addresses by ANY president, simply because I know I'll get riled-up on some damn thing or another.

As far as making the case for war with Iraq: Evidence makes a case, not words written for and spoken by a man who has a bad reputation of repeatedly mispeaking in public. I don't care how eloquent the words he spoke might have been, only the concrete evidence of misdeads by Saddam's regime can legitimize a war. Presumably the United Nations will get that evidence from the Bush Administration sometime in the next week or so.

You're too sensitive.

[TheStinger]

multi nationals should have some social responsibility and sell drugs at cost to poorer nations. This shouldn't be a law they should just do it

[DaShi]

Yeah, and poorer nations should make their drugs freely available as well.

[Imran Siddiqui]

If not, where did you get that "lose massive amounts of money" from?

Let's see deep discounts in the price of pharmacutical drugs to Africa, and in massive quantities of drugs. Can you not see how some dictator could decide this would be a great moneymaking scheme for him? I bet that a lot of these drugs find their way back into the West and are sold on the black market hurting pharmacutical companies.

This would require the companies to lower prices of their drugs in the West in order for people to NOT buy the black market drugs.

The only way that discounts in drug prices to Africa would work is if the US (and the West) actually went in there personally and made sure that every drug was taken. And that is a nightmare.

[TheStinger]

You don't have to supply them through governments there are plenty of NGO's who could ensure equitable distribution

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by TheStinger
You don't have to supply them through governments there are plenty of NGO's who could ensure equitable distribution

Exactly. In fact, it was the NGOs such as Oxfam and Red Cross that have been pushing for the deal.

[Imran Siddiqui]

But the UN resolution did NOT provide for that. It was simply lower prices for the drugs and there was even some talk about opening patents.

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
But the UN resolution did NOT provide for that. It was simply lower prices for the drugs and there was even some talk about opening patents.

Well I don't think the UN should get involved in patents or telling companies what to do.

The companies should do the right thing on their own( or after with pressure from shareholders)