Bono describes 'row' with Bush over AIDS funding: Rock star presses for more money
Surely, no one in their right mind would have ever expected Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism" to extend to AIDS funding, right? Well, apparently Bono didn't get the memo.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Irish rock star Bono pressed President Bush Tuesday to set aside more cash for AIDS initiatives but came away disappointed after a face-to-face talk with the president at the White House.
"We had a good old row," Bono said of his meeting with Bush. "What I just can't agree with him on is the numbers."
Congress is weighing a $2 billion spending request for next year that would provide the first installment for Bush's five-year, $15 billion plan to combat AIDS.
Bono, the lead singer of U2 who founded an advocacy group for issues affecting Africa, said the AIDS epidemic had reached crisis proportions, with millions of children in Africa orphaned by the deadly virus.
He urged a U.S. commitment of $3 billion for the fiscal year that begins in October -- an increase of $1 billion over the plan Bush has backed.
"I'm not here peddling a cause," Bono said at a news conference at the St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House. "Seven thousand people dying a day is not a cause. It's an emergency."
I would wholeheartedly agree with that assessment, but it does ignore the polticial realities of the day. First, spending money on AIDS will not garner nearly the political support that spending money on the war on terrorism will. Second, most of Bush's Conservative religious base likley still believes that AIDS is God's intended punishment for homosexuality.
Bush's proposal is a half-step in the right direction, but the problem will only grow if all we do is throw half-measures at it. AIDS may not be a visible, everyday phenomenon in this country yet, but it has the potential to become exactly that, and probably sooner than any of us realize. It would stand to reason that making a concerted effort now to control the spread of AIDS would pay substantial benefits down the road. Unfortunately, that logic seems lost on President Bush. At this rate, we will continue to fiddle until Rome is fully ablaze. Perhaps only then will someone recognize the magnitude of this public health emergency.
