Pic of the Day: Obola's Ebola Response Team

Have I mentioned lately how absolutely thrilled I am that 'the adults are in charge'? ///

h/t Instapundit via WeaselZippers

More Liberal Lies Exposed: The #CDC & #NIH Had Plenty of Money, But Chose To Spend It On Things Other Than #Ebola

More Liberal Lies Exposed: CDC Increased Payroll by 38% Since 2007, Increased # of Employees by Nearly 2,000

Amongst the findings of Open the Books: A Project of American Transparency:

1. #1 Bonus of $63,845 went to the Donald Shriber, Deputy Director of Policy & Communication at the Center for Global Health in 2011.

2. CDC Employee Counts Up By a Quarter since 2007. The gross number of CDC employees increased from 8,325 in 2007 to 10,213 in 2013- this is an all-time high.

3. $1 Billion in total payroll at CDC in 2013, that’s up from $726,000,000 in 2007- that’s a 38% increase in total payroll spending.

4. $21.504 Million in 2013 salaries flowed to the Top 100 Highly Compensated Executives at CDC.

5. Isn’t it time to fire the Interior Decorators and other extraneous employees at CDC? Millions of dollars of salaries and bonuses have flowed into positions such as these since 2007.

Rep. Henry Waxman testified at yesterday’s recent congressional hearings that the overall CDC budget was cut or impacted during sequester, but it’s just not the case with the pay and perks to CDC employees. CASH COMPENSATION AND NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES HAVE ALL INCREASED FROM 2007-2013 AND STAND AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH.

Hey Journalists! 15 Ways NIH And CDC Wasted Taxpayer Money

Many of these taxpayer-funded studies are a combination of absurd, like spending $181,406 getting Japanese quail high on cocaine, and downright offensive, like one project costing $544,188 studying how to convince young girls to get the HPV vaccine. Surely, these two agencies could find ways to run their operations more efficiently. By way of comparison, the combined budgets the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, FBI, DEA and Secret Service came to nearly $1 billion less than the NIH and CDC combined budgets.

If NIH and CDC are still having trouble coming up with ways to fund their fight against Ebola, here is a list of 15 wasteful programs totaling $15,135,574,669.00 where they could have saved:

1. Telling Taxpayers How to Eat ($15 billion)

Yes, that’s billion with a “b” in front. In a massive overstep of government power, Obamacare carved out $15 billion for CDC to convince Americans to make “healthy” choices through “Community Transformation Grants” (CTG). The CTG program “supports efforts to modify behavior through anti-obesity campaigns, as well as anti-smoking and pro-sin tax regulations and legislation” at the state and local levels, according to the bipartisan Citizens Against Government Waste.

2. Grant Money to China ($90 million)

NIH awarded more than $90 million to Chinese researchers. This included $2 million to develop a vaccine for a parasite disease common in China. The Traditional Values Coalition asked, “As our country heads to fiscal ruin, why are we giving millions in taxpayer dollars to Chinese science — which benefits China and its institutions — when they hold more than $1 trillion in American debt?”

3. Duplicate Agricultural Programs ($22 million) 

CDC spent $22 million on their Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Program. The problem? This project was nearly identical to efforts already underway at the Department of Agriculture. CDC even allotted $181,966 for developing a smart phone app for specialized farmers in Tennessee.

4. “Why Are Lesbians Fat?” ($2.87 million)

That’s one question NIH has decided to research for the last four years, spending more than $2.87 million so far on the project. The ongoing study is meant to explain why “women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic,” operating under the claim that “three-quarters” of lesbians are obese. First funded in 2011, the study is slated to continue into 2016.

5. Promoting HPV Vaccine for Young Girls ($544,188)

CDC provided $544,188 for a study on how to boost the number of young girls getting Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccinations in Los Angeles County. Although CDC says the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk, it counts 772 serious adverse side effects, including 32 deaths, among the millions of doses administered to young girls between June, 2006, and December, 2008. Parents have raised moral objections as to whether young girls should receive the vaccine, which covers four sexually transmitted diseases.

6. Drunken Monkeys ($3.2 million)

NIH spent $3.2 million getting monkeys drunk just to see what would happen. The agency apparently has quite a fascination with excessive drinking, since it also “doled out money in recent years for research on binge-drinking mice, inebriated gamblers and pilots seeking the sensation of flying drunk,” according to The Washington Times.

7. Bizarre Sex Studies ($1.5 million)

Congress voted to give NIH $1.5 million to spend on four obscure sex studies: “Mood Arousal and Sexual Risk Taking,” “Study on Sexual Habits of Older Men,” “Study on San Francisco’s Asian Prostitutes/Masseuses,” and “Study on American Indian Transgender Research.” NIH still received the requested funds from Congress, despite efforts by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., in 2004 to defund the projects.

8. Funds for Homosexual Activists in Public Schools ($1.4 million)

CDC gave The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the homosexual activist group, $1.4 million to create “safe spaces” in public schools starting in 2011. The funding will be distributed during a five year period, as GLSEN works in 20 targeted school districts across the country. GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard claimed in 2011 that safe spaces “are vital to these students’ health, success in school and life prospects.”

9. Centers for ‘GUN DISEASE’ Prevention ($2.6 million)

CDC spent $2.6 million on studies that also seemed to favor greater gun control before when Congress defunded the research in 1999. Apparently Congress thought CDC had more important issues to study, like how to control actual diseases. For FY 2015, President Obama is asking Congress to grant CDC $22.2 million in new funding to study and prevent gun violence. Obama has made similar requests in previous years, though unsuccessfully.

10. National Institutes of ‘Gun Control’ ($5 million)

Separately from the CDC, NIH also handed out nearly $5 million for research promoting gun control as of October, 2009, according to an article in The Washington Times. NIH pursued research on “gun related violence,” despite the issue being well outside the organization’s typical domain. Grants included “$642,561 in taxpayer funds to learn how inner-city teenagers whose friends, acquaintances and peers carry firearms and drink alcohol on street corners could show up in emergency rooms with gunshot wounds.”

11. Cocaine Enhances Japanese Quail’s Sex Drive ($181,406)

No joke, this was a real study sponsored by NIH and slated to run through next year. Why quail? Because “quail provide a convenient and interesting alternative to standard laboratory rats and pigeons.”

12. Empowering Women to Choose Contraception … IN JAIL ($279,789)

Liberals have long battled to expand women’s access to contraceptives. So in June 2012, NIH allocated $279,789 “to improve contraceptive use for incarcerated women” as they neared the end of their jail time. The program, which ran from June 1, 2008, through on May 31, 2014, was ultimately intended to reduce unexpected pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among recently incarcerated women.

13. Bogus AIDS Experiments ($4.9 million)

Results of an HIV/AIDS vaccine study funded by NIH were faked by researcher at Iowa State University (ISU), calling into question $19 million in grants awarded to the same researcher over the years. “Inauthentic” samples throughout a period of four years made the vaccine reportedly appear far more effective than it actually was. Although NIH refused to pay ISU the final installment of the grant money, the university was allowed to keep more than $4.9 million after paying back the researcher’s salary – nearly three-quarters of the original grant.

14. Sex Workers Spreading STDs ($675,786)

Ever wonder why sex workers spread HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)? The answer might seem obvious, but NIH is spending $675,786 to find out exactly how and why in an ongoing study. Researches are continuing the regular testing of 600 female sex workers on the U.S.-Mexico border for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia.

15. Examining ‘Barriers to Correct Condom Use’ ($423,500)

It turns out “young, heterosexual adult men” weren’t using condoms as frequently as NIH would like. A study investigating the apparent problem in 2009 came with $423,500 price tag.

MORE things that the CDC/NIH would rather spend money on than working on an Ebola vaccine…

From The Daily Mail:

1. $2.4 million:

To develop ‘origami’ condoms designed with Japanese folding paper in mind [Origami Condom' creator Daniel Resnic is accused of spending NIH grant dollars on cosmetic surgery, a Playboy Mansion party and exotic trips, and using his friends as informal research subjects instead of holding a controlled human trial];

2. $939,000:

To find out that male fruit flies prefer to romance younger females because the girl-flies’ hormone levels drop over time;

3. $325,000:

To learn that marriages are happier when wives calm down more quickly during arguments with their husbands;

4. $257,000:

To make an online game as a companion to first lady Michelle Obama’s White House garden;

5. $117,000:

In taxpayers’ grant dollars to discover that most chimpanzees are right-handed;

6. $592,000:

Almost $600,000 more to find out that not only are most chimps right-handed, but those with the best communications skills are also the best poop-flingers;

7. $666,000:

To determine whether watching sitcom reruns like ‘Seinfeld’ or re-watching old movies helps older people feel re-connected with pseudo-friends from their past;

8. $181,000:

To study how cocaine use ‘enhanced’ the sex drive of the Japanese quail;

9. $548,000:

To find out if 30-something partiers feel immature after they binge drink while people in their mid-20s don’t;

10. $610,000:

Was used for a 120-nation survey to determine how satisfied people in different countries are with their lives;

11. $1.1 million:

Funded research into how athletes perceive their in-game surroundings, including one Purdue University study that discovered golfers can putt 10 per cent better if they imagine the hole is bigger;

12. $832,000:

Went to learn if it was possible to get uncircumcised South African tribesmen into the habit of washing their genitals after having sex;

14. $484,000:

Researchers explored whether hypnotists could help postmenopausal women avoid hot flashes.

15. $294,000:

To push yoga if hypnotists could not help postmenopausal women avoid hot flashes.

Progressive groups have also tried to falsely accuse Republicans of slashing funding for health agency, running ads claiming that “Republican Cuts Kill” even though the numbers do not back up their claims. IN FACT, IT WAS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S BUDGET THAT PROPOSED CUTS TO KEY PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCIES.

As the Atlanta Business Chronicle noted in a piece entitled 'CDC Wins In Budget Deal' dated 17 January 2014, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) got an “8.2 percent budget increase for fiscal 2014, thanks to a $1.1 trillion spending bill announced by Congress Jan. 13.” In addition, the CDC received more funds than Obama had requested because of Congress. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the CDC’s $6.9 billion “is $567 million more than it received in 2013, “and “this is more than the agency anticipated, because the president’s fiscal year 2014 budget request for it was just $6.6 billion — a decrease of $270 million from fiscal 2012.”

And as Reason observed:

'The Pandemic Preparedness Funding' in America's "Global Health Program' actually saw 'a decrease of $22.5 million (-31%) below its Fiscal Year 2014 funding BECAUSE OBAMA'S BUDGET REQUESTED THAT DECREASE.'

After reviewing the wasteful, inane and duplicate spending of both the CDC and the NIH, I repeat again, the dagger to the heart of those screaming "Republican Cuts Kills' stated in an Atlantic Business Chronicle piece entitled 'CDC Wins In Budget Deal' dated 17 January 2014, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) got an '8.2 PERCENT BUDGET INCREASE FOR FISCAL 2014, THANKS TO A $1.1 TRILLION SPENDING BILL ANNOUNCED BY CONGRESS JAN. 13.'  

In addition, the CDC received more funds than President Obama had requested because of the 'obstructionists, who only care about the Evil, Greedy Rich and Big Corporations' a/k/a the Republicans. Once again, 'THE CDC’S $6.9 BILLION IS $567 MILLION MORE THAN IT RECEIVED IN 2013,' and 'THIS IS MORE THAN THE AGENCY ANTICIPATED, BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT’S FISCAL YEAR 2014 BUDGET REQUEST FOR IT WAS JUST $6.6 BILLION — A DECREASE OF $270 MILLION FROM FISCAL 2012.'

Our final shot comes from the pithy wisdom of Mr Joseph Rossell of Newsbusters.org: 

‘Surely, these two agencies could find ways to run their operations more efficiently. By way of comparison, the combined budgets the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, FBI, DEA and Secret Service came to nearly $1 billion less than the NIH and CDC combined budgets.’

http://tinyurl.com/l6ya8eu

'Toons of the Day: Incompetence, Thy Name Is Obola