Who's To Blame For The Cholera In Haiti?

Things are moving awful slow in Haiti:

People are taking to the streets in the Haitian city of Saint Marc to protest the construction of a cholera clinic by Doctors Without Borders. Around 300 students and other people gathered to complain (and throw rocks), voicing fears that the clinic would bring more of the disease into the area. More than 280 people have died from cholera so far in the recent outbreak, according to U.N. figures.

...It was more than nine months ago that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, killing a quarter of a million people, leveling the capital, and setting back the country's infrastructure and economic development for years. More than 100 countries pledged about $15 billion to repair Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. But so far Haitians have seen little improvement in their conditions. There are still 1.3 million people living in displaced persons camps, where hunger, rape, malnutrition, and now cholera are common. So far only $300 million of the $1.15 billion the United States appropriated to Haiti has reached the country.

So what's the hold-up? Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn is the chief roadblock:

The AP conducted its own investigation of why the Senate has failed to pass the authorization bill, and it discovered that a single senator “pulled it for further study.” After calling dozens of senators’ offices, the AP discovered that the senator holding up the bill is Tom Coburn (R-OK). Coburn spokeswoman Becky Berhardt explained that the reason he is holding up the bill is because he objects to the creation of a senior Haiti coordinator — a position that would cost a paltry $5 million over five years — when the United States currently has an ambassador to the country.

I hope the Senator is pleased with his objection, because it's killing people every day. Coburn himself is trying to weasel his way out of responsibility:

At the beginning of each session, Senator Coburn notifies every senator through a letter (posted on this website), that he intends to block any bill from being hotlined that adds to the deficit.

It's good to be a deficit hawk, of course, but human life takes precedence. The writings of Hippocrates urge that doctors, "first, do no harm...." Dr. Coburn violates his Oath every day he keeps his hold on the Kerry bill.