Bush To Double AIDS Budget

George Bush asked Congress today to double the amount spent fighting AIDS to $30 billion a year, beginning in 2008. In 2003, Bush requested a $15 billion annual allocation, a five-year funding that expires when the new amount would kick in. The 2003 budget remains the largest annual AIDS funding in the world. Critics complain that even the new amount is far too little to meet worldwide needs and that any AIDS funding tied to abstinence programs undercuts its effectiveness.