Let's talk about Screw worms

[rambot]

Status Quo: A 15million dollar monitor program is in place. Worked to monitor and manage a dangerous parasite.

Folks who don't understand anything but want to save money: "But we havent' had a screwworm problem ever so we don't need that program"

DOGE: Get rid of monitoring program.

Results?
Outbreak within a year.

Up to $1.8BILLION affect on the cattle industry

Solution? Costs 750million dollars.

Republicans out there:
How do you know when a program is a waste of money?

What is your rubric?

Is the phrase "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" at all involved in your decision making process?

 

[Laodicean60]

These are the consequences when you do things in a hurry. Trump is spending $1B on emergency response, which is overkill.

 

[rambot]

These are the consequences when you do things in a hurry.

"in a hurry" is one way to express it but it feels a bit too vague.

"when you do things.....without listening to experts....without considering their value....without recognizing the importance of the task....with the sole intent on saving money without other considerations".

Trump is spending $1B on emergency response, which is overkill.

I understand the plan is to breed a whole bunch of sterile males and release them (like places do with mosquitoes). I get that....but I'm also well aware of the affects of removing species from food webs and ecosystems. It makes me a bit antsy when folks use this strategy because those insects are foods for things AND they eat other things too.

And it's important to note that DOGE cut SOOOO many of these programs. IF these things do not get set back up, America is far more vulnerable to it's own demise.

 

[Nithavela]

The screwworm has been moving northward through Mexico since the Biden government.

But axing the program certainly didn't help.

 

[Nithavela]

"in a hurry" is one way to express it but it feels a bit too vague.

"when you do things.....without listening to experts....without considering their value....without recognizing the importance of the task....with the sole intent on saving money without other considerations".



I understand the plan is to breed a whole bunch of sterile males and release them (like places do with mosquitoes). I get that....but I'm also well aware of the affects of removing species from food webs and ecosystems. It makes me a bit antsy when folks use this strategy because those insects are foods for things AND they eat other things too.

And it's important to note that DOGE cut SOOOO many of these programs. IF these things do not get set back up, America is far more vulnerable to it's own demise.

The strile fly program had been a success for many decades. I think it's fair to think that it should work.

 

[durangodawood]

You could just hear DOGE people and their MAGA supporters: we're spending millions to castrate flies to kill worms!

Seriously I bet thats how deep the "thinking" went.

 

[rambot]

The screwworm has been moving northward through Mexico since the Biden government.

But axing the program certainly didn't help.

All the more reason to keep the thing in place.

 

[Richard T]

Risk assessment with dollar figures is what actuarial science does. You estimate the cost of the potential impact of a negative event and then you look at the cost of insuring that event, or in the case of screwworm, mitigating the event. Could be that even with the funding, the screwworm would be here. Still, the funding was a good idea. Now Pulte is cutting national security staff. This is a dangerous game. We all saw the lives lost for 9/11 and the market response. So a type of risk analysis is needed across all areas and funded when appropriate.