Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   The National Stockpile Date:   3/30/2020 11:38:27 AM

Read an interesting article yesterday about the national stockpile.  We didn't have one until after 9/11.  Then it was put in place to help deal with a singular terrorist attack that would affect hundreds, not thousands.  So Trump is correct when he claims he inherited a broken system.  We were behind the curve right from the gitgo.  And some of the equipment that was there was old and didn't work.  (We saw the same thing in Europe when we drew down the stocks for the war we never had.  A lot of it was in bad condition, outdated and no longer worked).  One reporter asked Trump what he had been doing for the last 3 years to fix the problem.  The answeer to that is fending off attacks from Democrats to defeat his Presidency and fulfilling campaign promises.  

The daily briefing yesterday seemed to indicate that they are concerned that a lot of hospital supplies come in the front door and going out the back door, in unprecedented quanitities particularly in NYC.  This should be surprising to no one.  There are always profiteers in any crisis.  

The truth is no one had done anything about the national stockpile - not since GWB's administration when it would have been put in place. It doesn't matter because we are where we are.  There are supply chain problems, as well as companies having to ramp up production which takes time.  We're now seeing the surge capacity.