old salt wrote: ↑Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:57 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 2:08 pm
Peter Brown wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:35 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 11:18 am
Peter Brown wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 11:10 am
Why was testing delayed in the United States, versus say South Korea?
This is an incredibly interesting article on how the FDA bungled things as only bureaucracies can. The US and SoKo got their first detected cases on the same date, 1-21. Our FDA inserted itself into the process by demanding an 'Emergency Use Authorization" (EAU) letter from the FDA for any lab that wished to test for Covid-19. Labs that had begun to test instead had to shut down, waiting for the letter; the United States has 260,000 laboratory entities.
Between 1-21 and 2-29, only one EAU letter was issued, to the CDC lab. Everything was pinned on one lab, whose protocol proceeded to fail. Of course. On March 16, finally, the FDA sped up the process by removing itself from the process, by providing an EAU exemption to any lab that sought it, essentially giving power of this process to the states.
Guess who ordered that ruling? Libs here won't be happy, but it rhymes with drump.
Speed not perfection in a pandemic.
Bureaucracies exist to deny you your rights. Never forget that.
https://thedispatch.com/p/timeline-the- ... latorsthat
Are you actually serious PB?
Of course bureaucracies slow stuff down.
and this was an epic fail for sure.
But of leadership not just bureaucracy.
Do you imagine that SK doesn't have bureaucracy?
March 15?!
why don't you ask the question as to why Trump didn't order it opened up sooner?
did he ask about it?
when was the last time he said the virus wasn't a serious issue or even worse, that "we just have 15 cases and it's soon going to zero"?
I thought it was you who always tell us that Trump is a "moron". How would a moron know what an 'Emergency Use Authorization" (EAU) is?
In some regards, I think you are correct, but you're missing the why; Trump isn't a details guy...at all.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
I bet Trump didn't even know what the FDA was prior to 6 weeks ago. My guess is he said to Azar, 'handle it'. And Azar probably didn't have a clue how to get a bureaucracy to move. When that became apparent, Trump stepped in.
But you don't get to call Trump a moron
and blame him for the inner trappings of the FDA. Pick one or the other.
I don't think I've used that word, but it's certainly an apt one for Trump.
What 'moron' wouldn't know what the FDA is?
Much less one who ANYONE would consider electable for President.
But yes, a 'not a details guy' is responsible for hiring strong subordinates, those who actually know more than the boss and are effective managers in their own right. That the "CEO" job.
You guys all claimed Trump was a masterful business person, certainly he himself made such claims, yet he's been brutally bad at hiring and managing competent people.
Another key job of any leader/manager, of anything, is someone who will ask hard questions of subordinates to be sure they're not blowing smoke up his __. Not looking for the 'happy talk' answer, but the serious news and the hard recommendations.
And the more serious the problem, the more important that 'bad news can't wait' as an operating maxim.
We see the result of 'hiring' this jerk. Yes, I've used that word. It too is apt.
So, you betcha, we can look at this snafu, which I think was more about arrogance than bureaucracy, and we can blame the top dog for his failure. As well as subordinates who blew their jobs. And all the sycophants who made this not only possible, but likely, as they enabled incompetence and corruption to stand uncontested at every level. The culture of this Administration is horrible, and again that's on Trump and those who have enabled him.
After 11 mos in office & trillions in covid emergency funding (much unspent or spent on other stuff),
it's great that Mr Competent Biden straightened out the testing snafu.
First, Merry Christmas Eve to you Salty, and all others on here.
On this comment, yes, it's obviously clear that the Admin did not adequately foresee the immensely rapid scaling of a new variant requiring so many tests. However, in addition to correctly (IMO) prioritizing vaccine distribution, they also funded the development of super rapid tests that did not previously exist, and they funded the production of those tests...could they have done more, sooner? Let's assume so. They've most recently placed huge orders for such tests. Good. And remember that these tests and their production capacities did not previously exist when they took office.
I think the other valid criticism on testing was the emphasis on using insurance to reimburse the costs for testing, rather than what some countries have done, making them virtually free, no insurance process needed. It appears they've now recognized the need to bypass the insurance process and just get them in the hands of the public asap. Good.
As I've said many, many times, I'm sure there will be plenty to critique the Biden Admin for. Mistakes will be made. Some may be egregious.
But, in stark contrast with the former POTUS, who made such extravagant claims about his abilities as a manager, a CEO, a business person, etc, etc, it's clear that the people Biden has hired/appointed and 'manages' are competent people who are indeed attempting to do their level best in combatting the pandemic and provide for the public good, rather than a burning obsession with the POTUS' ego and election prospects.
Big difference...but that's not going to mean perfection or no mistakes.