Rumsfeld's growing 25 million financial stake in Tamiflu

Now anyone who hasn't been on Mars for the last month or two, knows that there were only two things that were going to stop the human version of bird flu. One was a bird flu vaccine (which probably would work better if you were a bird) and the other was something called Tamiflu. Yes, that Tamiflu. In such short supply that the hundreds of millions of orders that have been pouring into Gilead probably won't be filled for another 12 months or so. But everyone has got to have it because somehow or other it became established that Tamiflu really worked.

This was the party line, anyway, for about a week, until word began trickling back in that maybe Tamiflu didn't work. In fact, the word on Tamiflu has always been positive at first and then eventually negative. It's a kind of pattern. We even find corroboration of it here on the Democrats.com, in what appears to be either a chat room or news roundup as follows, "Rummy was CEO of Gilead Sciences until named to the Bush cabinet and, like Cheney, still has ties that bind to the 'old company.' Now isn't it an 'amazing coincidence' that the drug Tamiflu patented by Gilead Sciences is being pushed by the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases as the NUMBER ONE choice for flu, which, wonder of wonders, is sweeping through in one epidemic after another."

We suspect you are a chicken.

I think BBB just likes searching the internet all day for anything that will make a republican look bad. The heck with the source or the truth of the article. Cut and paste anything and everything anti-Bush, anti-republican seems to be her mantra.

Smart, wise people tend to make smart, wise investment choices.

What exactly is the issue here?

McGentrix wrote:

Smart, wise people tend to make smart, wise investment choices.

What exactly is the issue here?

No, it's about cronyism and conflict of interest.
...but forget those.
Let's defend the interests and "smart investments" of the ruling elite--those who sometimes make policy decisions based on arbitrary (read: financial) criteria.

I'm suggesting that the incidences of what look like suspect business transactions by key figures in this administration are largely ignored by Bush supporters as mere coincidences.

candidone1 wrote:

I'm suggesting that the incidences of what look like suspect business transactions by key figures in this administration are largely ignored by Bush supporters as mere coincidences.

Then you are NOT suggesting that the US govt's decision to purchase tamiflu is a direct result of Rummy's investments??

McG... you have it all wrong... this is a serious issue and the health of the nation and millions and millions of people worldwide are inconsequential when compared to Rummy's bank role. This is such an important issue I hereby call for a voluntary boycott of taminflu.

Those in agreement that Rummy making a few bucks off of an old company in which he has completely distanced himself from and seemingly gone out of the way to not be directly involoved in decision making concerning said company is a horrible horrible betrayal of the American population please... boycott taminflu. What say you, BBB, Blatham, Cyc and Candid... are you with me on this one?

[/sarcasm]

Smart, wise people tend to make smart, wise investment choices.

What exactly is the issue here?

So, you are suggesting that we should have NO plan for an outbreak, rely on unknown, unproven pharmaceuticals and companies with no facilities for mass producing flu vacceine? All this because Rummy owns stock in a company with a long history of providing a workable vaccine?