Quote:
Originally posted by ktsnake
Okay, I'm going to double post this, but it's relevant in both threads.
If anyone remembers that far back (okay, I was like 5, but I watch the History Channel ) we didn't even have a name for it at first. No one knew what it was.
The truth is that since the disease was discovered in 1982, Reagan gave it a fairly large amount of funding (considering the fact that at the beginning, the disease was not widespread and not very well known). During his administration, 5.727 BILLION dollars were spent on AIDS research.
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I remember that far back pretty well. Hell, I televised the 1980 Republican Convention from Detroit when I worked there.
AIDS wasn't on anyone's radar scope back then. Nobody had even heard of it.
As I posted on another thread, Reagan didn't even know what it was until one of his Hollywood friends died of it and he asked the White House Physician about it according to one of his top aides at the time.
While there are a number of things Ronald Reagan can be taken to task for, I don't think this is one of them. Six Billion Dollars doesn't seem like much in today's government spending -- but it was pretty substantial then.
Remember, the US budget used to be counted in Billions -- not Trillions.