Friday, November 28, 2014

Issue 472 Should the National Guard take over the CDC November 28, 2014

With the recent events over Ebola, it calls into question if the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is still up to the task of fighting potential outbreaks of deadly diseases.  As such, perhaps it is time to dissolve the CDC and give their duties over to a more trusted group of individuals who have the discipline and the wherewithal to act on what is right, The National Guard.  Time to discuss.

CDC to National Guard:  While the CDC has served us well in the past, they seem to have botched up due to politics.  They no longer, it appears, care for safety of people in the country if it means them looking bad politically (such as the suspending of flights from African Countries).  However, the National Guard has no such problem.  They are there to protect us and even have training to deal with threats like Ebola (whether they have specialized divisions I do not know).  However, they are tasked with defending the people and thus can make these kinds of decisions without political approval.  They can even suspend traffic going in and out of a particular State in the nation if they feel it is no longer safe and have the resources to pull it off on their own.  Together with the CDC's old resources they can actually give people a plan to protect themselves from things like Ebola and customize each State's response in the United States.  This ability to customize per State an action plan to stop the spread of infection is useful and if the CDC was around they would be doing this particular task regardless.  Thus it eliminates another level of bureaucracy that may inhibit a quick and needed response.  

Conclusion:  The CDC was once one of the most trusted institutions in America's political system.  Now they pretty much are deemed a political hack.  They traded trust for million dollar offices and other waste over protecting the nation from an outbreak that potentially could have killed thousands.  With the National Guard however, we have a ready rapid reaction force ready to stop the spread of the infection by shutting down air traffic, land traffic and river/ocean traffic before the disease spreads further.  They will also have the equipment, and capability to aid doctors in fighting the infection by setting up emergency hospitals at strategic points on a moment’s notice.  Essentially, we get the military precision and discipline to get the job done.   This is an option to fix a potentially growing problem within the federal government, not a cure. 


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