World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day.

Obama will have the audacity to speak at an event, "The Beginning of the End of AIDS," hosted by the ONE Campaign and (RED).

Words can be so empty, especially those read by Obama from his teleprompters.

What is Obama's record on AIDS?

He wants Americans and people around the world to believe that he's done more than anyone to fight the disease and address related issues.

Obama lies about his inaction. He lies about Republicans. He's shameless.

Here's video of Obama in Boston, October 2010, addressing hecklers protesting his administration's miserable record on AIDS:



Liar!

Obama is yelling to cover up the fact that he has failed to live up to his promises.

The AIDS activists keep disrupting his speeches and Obama keeps getting more and more angry.

Here's Obama responding to protesters in September 2010:



The dissatisfaction with Obama among gay rights and AIDS activists is boiling over.

Read Jim Wallis, "My Take: George W. Bush led on AIDS. Will Obama?"

The world needs President Barack Obama to be a global leader on HIV/AIDS.

It was not that long ago faith leaders and millions of activists organized across the globe to press President George W. Bush to respond to the AIDS pandemic and fund solutions to end extreme global poverty.

The result of bold American leadership led to nothing short of a historic wave of success. Today, nearly four million Africans are on life saving HIV/AIDS medicines, up from 50,000 in 2002. President Bush’s legacy in the fight against global AIDS is strong, but much more needs to be done.

Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to continue that leadership. But today, his promise has yet to be kept.

...But when it comes to turning back the AIDS pandemic and ending extreme poverty, we have a very clear path forward. There are 192 nations that committed to the Millennium Development Goals in 2001. They are a series of eight targeted goals that would produce dramatic results in turning back the tide of global pandemics and reducing extreme poverty, and they gave us a roadmap as to how this all could happen by 2015.

U.S. leadership on these goals and the work to back them up have received broad bipartisan support within Congress. Countries across the world are now in tough economic straits, so if the United States falters in its leadership the huge successes these goals have already accomplished could stall.

Unfortunately, one major source of funding to fight AIDS, The Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) has been neglected.

During his campaign, President Obama made a promise to increase PEPFAR funding by $1 billion a year if elected. Last year, the White House recommended a small increase of funding from $6.6 billion to $6.7 billion. It looks like PEPFAR will receive only a small increase this year. That's a broken promise.

...For those of us in this country, it's a matter of Obama fulfilling a campaign promise. For the world’s poorest, it's a matter of life and death.

On the video, Obama wants credit for increasing AIDS relief funding. Clearly, he's misrepresenting what his administration has done in terms of keeping his campaign promise.

Moreover, it's disturbing that Obama, rather than taking responsibility for his broken promises, misleads and tries to turn the criticism he deserves on the Republicans, warning, "promising," that they will cut AIDS funding.

I think Obama needs to be educated on recent history and what President Bush accomplished regarding AIDS relief.

Bob Geldof, February 2008, TIME:

I gave the President my book. He raised an eyebrow. "Who wrote this for ya, Geldof?" he said without looking up from the cover. Very dry. "Who will you get to read it for you, Mr. President?" I replied. No response.

The Most Powerful Man in the World studied the front cover. Geldof in Africa — " 'The international best seller.' You write that bit yourself?"

"That's right. It's called marketing. Something you obviously have no clue about or else I wouldn't have to be here telling people your Africa story."

It is some story. And I have always wondered why it was never told properly to the American people, who were paying for it. It was, for example, Bush who initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) with cross-party support led by Senators John Kerry and Bill Frist. In 2003, only 50,000 Africans were on HIV antiretroviral drugs — and they had to pay for their own medicine. Today, 1.3 million are receiving medicines free of charge. The U.S. also contributes one-third of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — which treats another 1.5 million. It contributes 50% of all food aid (though some critics find the mechanism of contribution controversial). On a seven-day trip through Africa, Bush announced a fantastic new $350 million fund for other neglected tropical diseases that can be easily eradicated; a program to distribute 5.2 million mosquito nets to Tanzanian kids; and contracts worth around $1.2 billion in Tanzania and Ghana from the Millennium Challenge Account, another initiative of the Bush Administration.

Steve Bloomfield, February 2009, The Indepedent:

When President Bush came to power in 2001, the US spent $1.4bn a year on humanitarian and development aid in Africa. By 2006, the figure had quadrupled to $5.6bn a year. And it is likely to get bigger. The centrepiece of Mr Bush's aid to Africa is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), a five-year, $15bn Aids prevention and treatment programme launched in 2003. His most recent budget proposes doubling the funding to $30bn over the next five years.

Despite rows over the programme's emphasis on abstinence and faithfulness to one partner rather than condoms to control Aids, it has helped to fund anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for 1.3 million people across the continent. Before, the US funded ARV treatment for just 50,000 people.

Taken alongside US funding for malaria prevention, plus the Millennium Challenge Accounts, which provide funding for countries with strong governance records, Mr Bush has done more for Africa than any other US president, according to Joel Barkan, a senior associate at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. "I am a very severe critic of the Bush administration," he said, "but you cannot take away from the president the fact that the commitment of the US, in terms of aid and debt relief, is certainly greater under Bush than Clinton."

Mark Silva, July 2008, The Swamp:

For all the tumult that has marked the presidency of George W. Bush, one pursuit of this administration has yeided continuing results: The fight against AIDS in Africa.

Bush has challenged the U.S. to redouble its funding for the fight against AIDS and malaria in Africa and other reaches of the world over the next five years, and Congress this week met the call for funding that keeps that American commitment on track.

With legislation that the president will sign next week, the U.S. will commit to $40 billion in aid over the next five years -- including an unprecedented new turn in foreign health aid: The long-term provision of life-sustaining drugs for AIDS sufferers.

Clearly, Republicans under George W. Bush were committed to addressing AIDS.

OBAMA is knowingly attempting to deceive the public.

It's a disgrace.

And then there's this, from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), September 27, 2010:

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today issued a call for action after AIDS activists heckled President Barack Obama during a New York City fundraiser last night. The protestors descried the Obama administration’s dismal record on AIDS, holding up signs that read “Obama, broken promises KILL.”

The Obama administration continues to give short shrift to AIDS in the U.S. and abroad. More than 3,400 Americans are on waiting lists to receive lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and hundreds more are being cut off from receiving medications through the state due to other cost-containment measures.

The President has offered a mere $30 million in additional funding to close a gaping $126 million hole in funding for ADAPs—not nearly enough. Additionally, the Obama administration has retreated from its global commitments on AIDS, flat-funding and underfunding its worldwide programs.

“We heard your point…The people who will take over if we don’t focus on the election, I promise you, will cut AIDS funding.”

“The administration is spending more in two hours on the war in Afghanistan than it is spending to solve the AIDS drug crisis which is killing Americans here at home,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein. “It is time for administration officials to step up to the plate and identify funds to send to cash-strapped ADAPs. President Obama should act like this country’s citizens lives depend on it—because they do!”

In response to one activist’s criticism of the administration’s retreat on global AIDS, President Obama insisted that if the Republicans gain control of Congress the situation would worsen. He said, “We heard your point…The people who will take over if we don’t focus on the election, I promise you, will cut AIDS funding.”

“The assertion that the Republicans would do worse on AIDS than the current Democratic leadership is simply incorrect,” said Weinstein. “After all, it is Republican Senators Coburn and Burr who have introduced bills to solve the nation’s ADAP crisis and increase treatment slots for global AIDS patients— bills which have stalled largely due to lack of Democratic support.”

Did you get that?

"The assertion that the Republicans would do worse on AIDS than the current Democratic leadership is simply incorrect."

OBAMA is a liar.

Here's more World AIDS Day 2010 coverage:

VIDEO – Part One: George W. Bush and Bono Sit Down With Bret Baier

U2’s Bono and George W. Bush are continuing the global fight and ongoing efforts to raise awareness of AIDS. Here is part one of the interview:

VIDEO – Part Two: George W. Bush and Bono Sit Down With Bret Baier



Obama has dropped the ball when it comes to AIDS, and he repeatedly lies about his inexcusable inaction.

So far, Obama's record regarding AIDS is abysmal.

Obama and the Democrats should be held accountable.