AIDS drugs

Listening to Unfiltered on Air America this morning, I heard an interesting debate about the funding for AIDS drugs that Bush talked about in the State of the Union address. It blew me away when I heard the numbers: $15 billion! For AIDS! How can this be? This is something that can actually help people! How can this be?
Well, "with strings attached" is BushCo's motto. That money is called "$15 billion for AIDS patients" but in fact is "$15 billion for American drug companies". The money won't be buying any drugs for people unless they come from American drug companies. The official line is that the generic drugs from other countries, drugs that can keep AIDS patients alive at $365 a year, aren't proven safe. See, they are worried about the safety of AIDS patients. The danger that AIDS itself presents to the patients doesn't really seem to worry them overmuch, though.
I know I have a bad attitude. I need to get in line with American capitalist optimism--where some might see a terminal disease, good old-fashioned American optimists see an opportunity to make some money.