Trump Wants You To Die, War on Public Health Unleashed, The Next Pandemic: Paul Krugman

[appalachiablue]

'Krugman: Donald Trump Wants You To Die,' Jan. 24, 2025. Ed. (Image: Cells Infected with Avian Influenza. 💉 )
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Among other things, Donald Trump wants to make sure no Federal health agencies are going to make him look bad if/when it becomes the next major pandemic.

Paul Krugman’s latest is all about the war on public health Trump has unleashed. One enduring theme of the MAGA movement has been hostility toward the “deep state” — what people outside the movement might call professional civil servants. Trump and company believe that the deep state is out to get them, which is paranoid. But they’re not wrong to believe that public employees who see themselves as working for the nation rather than for whoever currently occupies the White House pose a problem for their agenda.

So what will MAGA do, now that it’s in power?

Many observers, myself included, have focused on plans to convert a number of civil service jobs into political appointments. But just a few days into the new regime it’s clear that the assault on professional government will be much broader than that — that it will involve an effort to intimidate and politicize civil servants, too. And early indications are that one prime target will be agencies devoted to protecting public health. Krugman goes on to document all of the reasons Trump and the MAGA Party have decided the government agencies that protect public health must be suppressed. He shows how it is happening, and what the likely consequences will be.

He concludes with this: And when - not if - the next pandemic strikes, do you expect our battered, politicized public health agencies to keep Americans properly informed?

If Trump is still in charge, do you expect him to respond effectively, as opposed to minimizing the threat and muzzling anyone who might contradict him?

It’s hard to feel optimistic about any of these concerns. - Krugman predicts Americans are going to die because of this — and given the thousands who got sick and died from Covid because of Trump’s ‘leadership’ in his previous presidency, it looks like a sure bet. I spent 40 years working in public health in a blue state government agency. I can tell you from personal experience that most people have no idea how much such agencies do to keep people alive and healthy. If you’ve had a child in this country, depending on where you live that child was tested shortly after birth for a number of health conditions that can be treated IF identified quickly.

It’s called newborn screening. If nothing is found you’d likely not even be aware it had been done, but if something is detected action will be taken immediately, saving lives and money. A number of people became sick with hepatitis in my state a while back. Health department DNA analysis in one of our labs identified common strains among the cases, allowing them to be traced back to the source: contaminated dialysis machines. Say there’s an outbreak of food poisoning. Testing food samples and tracing them back identifies the source. Got clean water? How do you know? Somebody somewhere tests it, right? Worried about terrorism? I used to work right around the corner from the BioDefense Lab — people trained to deal with potential biological threats. They might never be needed, but would you really want them defunded or hamstrung, unable to go to conferences or hold training sessions?...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/24/2298852/-Krugman-Donald-Trump-wants-you-to-die
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- 'Trump Wants Us To Die' DU, Gen. Disc.1.24.25

He is destroying our healthcare providers by privatizing all of them, by throwing people out of the healthcare they have, by opening the door to expensive prescription drugs. He is destroying the agencies of the people who study & come up with remedies for various ills.
He is banning health agencies from alerting not just us, but doctors and hospitals. how to deal with a spreading sickness, like the bird flu.

Do Not Get Sick. Some people are born with good immune systems, but without healthcare we must fend for ourselves. Don't smoke. Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.

Exercise regularly. Maintain a healthy weight. Get adequate sleep. Reduce stress. Stay up to date with recommended immunizations, *oops, never mind, Trump, RFK Jr. will forbid that one.
Good luck to all of us.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219939664
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- PBS: Trump Decision to Withdraw from World Health Organization, Potential Impacts, Jan. 22
https://www.democraticunderground.com/114236449

[riversedge]

1. 'The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is currently stacked with academic experts well versed in the sc

we are being warned--but I fear the Republicans will charge ahead.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is currently stacked with academic experts well versed in the science of vaccines. A new secretary of Health and Human Services (RFKJr.) could rapidly change that, @KatherineJWu
writes.

Link to tweet

[appalachiablue]

2. Tx for posting, all of this is a real shock. Good suggestions for staying well above.

[dutch777]

3. If only MAGAts died at a higher rate than the good folk this would almost be worth it. Point the risk out now...

...so when it breaks bad we can lay the blame at T's and the GOP's feet. Pity the children and those that have a hard time fending for themselves. My kid has my granddaughter on fluoride drops already and we are completely prepared to be medical tourists to Canada or wherever to get vaccines needed. Not everyone has that wherewithal or is a family loaded with (rational) medical professionals. Those are who I worry about in a lot of this nonsense.

[regnaD kciN]

4. Given the TESCREAList leanings of some of his billionaire backers...

…such as Musk, Thiel, and Andreissen, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were encouraging actions that would lead to a die-off of us “unproductive” life-forms.

[appalachiablue]

5. Useless Eaters, Euthanasia Redux

[Irish_Dem]

6. No surprise, a shut down on all public information.

Like China and Russia. Only top leaders decide what information the public gets.

And they will not get much information.