And the band played on

If there is one thing that really pisses me off, it’s bad public policy.

I am sure that the OC will have plenty to write about the current NTY series this week on the Type II diabetes crisis facing NYC (and the rest of the country). DiabetesMine has begun the conversation. Here's the beginning of my two cents.

The quote that stuck in my head yesterday

Yet for years, public health authorities around the country have all but ignored chronic illnesses like diabetes, focusing instead on communicable diseases, which kill far fewer people. New York, with its ambitious and highly praised public health system, has just three people and a $950,000 budget to outwit diabetes, a disease soon expected to afflict more than a million people in the city.

Tuberculosis, which infected about 1,000 New Yorkers last year, gets $27 million and a staff of almost 400.

I work in politics. I understand the disconnect between what government needs to do and what it can do. I get it.

The question.

How different is this from 20 million to fix the levees pre-Katrina or 2 billion to rebuild New Orleans today?

For a medical parallel go read/rent And the Band Played On.

Long run people...... Think about the long run.