Cuomo Shows He Has No Guts--Caves To White House Pressure!

New York governor buckles to Fed pressure on Ebola

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Chip Wood

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Shame on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Last Friday, he appeared in a joint news conference with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to announce that both states would impose a mandatory quarantine on health workers who returned to their states after treating Ebola patients in West Africa. But his defiance of Obama Administration policy didn’t last the weekend.

It’s no surprise that federal officials were outraged at the idea that a state would defy their leadership how to deal with the Ebola crisis. A senior administration official was quoted anonymously as saying, “We have let the governors of New York, New Jersey, and other states know that we have concerns with the unintended consequences” of policies “not grounded in science.”

That was all it took for Cuomo to back down. Two days later, he buckled under the pressure from the Obama Administration and said: OK, we won’t quarantine them. But they’ll have to remain in their homes for 21 days while being monitored for symptoms by state health officials.

The latest crisis began when Craig Spencer, a physician who had served in West Africa with Doctors without Borders, was diagnosed with Ebola after he returned to New York City. Before he showed any symptoms, Spencer went bowling and traveled around the city on the subway. We’re assured by health officials that victims aren’t contagious until they develop definite symptoms, such as fatigue or a high temperature. But it’s no wonder a heck of a lot of New Yorkers are concerned they might have been exposed to Ebola by some sort of contact with Spencer, without even knowing it.

Cuomo is a Democrat. Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, is a Republican. Both have been mentioned as possible contenders for their party’s nominations for President. Both are in the spotlight for how they handle the Ebola crisis. By buckling to pressure from the feds, Cuomo in particular is taking one heck of a risk. If another New Yorker develops Ebola because of exposure to Spencer, you can put “finished” to any furtherpolitical ambitions Cuomo might have.

In the meantime, Christie faced a bit of a hornet’s nest in New Jersey. Kaci Hickox, a nurse who treated Ebola victims in Sierra Leone, had been placed in 21-day quarantine and kept in a tent attached to a hospital. She had a toilet but no shower and said her conditions were “inhumane.” She toldCNN on Sunday that she retained a lawyer and might sue to win her release.

On Monday, Christie said the nurse, who has been symptom-free since her confinement, would be released and flown to Maine, “not via mass transit or commercial aircraft.” Now it’s your problem, Maine, the governor seems to be saying.

All of this confusion and controversy is happening for one very simple reason: The Feds’ bungled response to the Ebola crisis. The Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial yesterday:

The real problem is that the CDC, the World Health Organization, the Health and Human Services Department and the White House have all given ample reason not to trust their assurances. They said the chance of an Ebola case in the U.S. was remote. They said airport screeners would catch anyone sick trying to enter. They said U.S. hospitals were prepared for such cases, and that doctors and nurses would be protected. And they said self-quarantines would prevent new cases.

As we know, all these assurances were false.

The first and most important responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. So congratulations to any governor who is willing to defy the Obama Administration to do so.

Until next time, keep some powder dry