One is inclined to think of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a health-oriented, no-nonsense agency that operates in a sterile, efficient and productive manner. It's image is not likely to include visions of fluff or foolish spending.
Yet we get evidence of hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on needless perks that do little or nothing to enhance our chances of coping with and, ideally, avoiding diseases.
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a practicing physician and ranking member of an oversight subcommittee, has issued a scathing 115-page report. It questions, justifiably, the CDC's spending on such things as an employee fitness center with about $200,000 in equipment including zero-gravity chairs and a mood-enhancing light show, and a $1.7 million effort to have medical care accurately portrayed in movies and television shows.
Further, Coburn finds evidence that there are even more such projects for which millions more in dollars are being sought with little evidence they meet the basic standards of the CDC.
So much for the idea of well-trained, dedicated people moving from place to place in their white coats, masks and rubber gloves working to protect us - even though most of the employees might fit such a mold.
Coburn is quick to emphasize that he thinks the CDC does important work to protect and improve public health. He doesn't want a few examples of improper spending to hinder and undermine that work. He just wants to see public funding better used.
His concern is quite understandable. His report includes details on a massive construction project at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Costs already have exceeded a billion dollars. Officials say their goal is to provide first-rate facilities for "our first-rate employees."
Coburn's report criticizes the $1.7 million the agency has spent since 2001 on a Hollywood liaison office providing expertise for TV shows such as "ER" and "24."
" : television producers should have an incentive without federal taxpayer involvement to get their story lines straight," says the senator. A CDC spokesman calls this "an unusual and effective way to reach people" with messages about their health. Again, why can't TV producers pay such bills?
How many millions of dollars have been squandered on perks for CDC employees? A health-conscious nation has reason to expect better use of public funds. If something as "sterile" as the CDC operation is this badly operated, consider all the other federal agencies that are even more likely to be showing a disgusting disregard for taxpayer money.
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jrlii (anonymous) says…
scootterxlch wrote:
"I want a governement that can secure my borders and provide for the common good. I was born into a country that could and did: I am now raising my children in a country where we can't or we tried and quit. "
Excuse me, but for the vast majority of American history, "securing my borders" meant keeping out invading armies, not peaceful immigrants and traders. I haven't heard of Mexico or Canada trying to invade lately.
The present immigration regulations are immoral, and should be abolished: There is a natural right to travel, and the right to work is not limited to the place of one's nativity.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when my ancestors came to this country, the borders were open. Why should it be any different today?
erod0723 (anonymous) says…
The CDC is waiting for the right moment to unleash the disease to end all diseases and thus take over our lives. They alone will have the antidote, and we will all be at the mercy of the CDC.
jonas (anonymous) says…
scootterxlch: A scathing letter about immigration problems, followed by a quote "I want my American dream back"? I'm going to simply hope that you are posting as a joke, because that's one of the most rediculously ignorant and contradictory thing I've read here in a day or two. What do you think the American dream was, if not the idea that anybody (holy crap, immigrants too) could come here, and through hard work improve their lives.
Certainly, shore up the system to make it harder to come in illegally. But if the idea is to simply deny new potential immigrants the opportunities that all of your great-grandparents enjoyed coming here as immigrants, just to allow unskilled American workers the ability to ride on protectionist policies and collect their unjustifiedly fat salaries, we're all worse off.