by Jack Lee
One day the townspeople were gathered in city hall to discuss how they should spend the $823,000 in stimulus money they received from the Obama Administration. Michel said, “I think we should build a children’s playground”, heads nodded in approval. Then Walt said, but our streets need those huge potholes filled and again people nodded in approval. Someone else said… they should put up a stop light at 5th and Main, a very busy and accident prone intersection and people seemed to be favoring this idea. Then Mayor Bill said, “I think we should spend it on a campaign to teach black males in South Africa to wash their genitals after having sex!”
The room went silent…. and then suddenly and all at once they cheered, clapped and threw their hats into the air and proclaimed, “We have a winner! And everyone was thrilled.
Of course this never really happened because citizens have better sense. That sort of silly spending is reserved for bureaucrats in Washington and that’s what they did. They have approved sending your tax dollars to South Africa to teach black males how to wash their penis after sex…your tax dollars at work!
Question: Was there perhaps a greater need for the $800,000 in tax money right here in Chico?
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), spent $823,200 of economic stimulus funds in 2009 on a study by a UCLA research team to teach uncircumcised African men how to wash their genitals after having sex.
The genitalia-washing program is part of a larger $12-million UCLA study examining how to better encourage Africans to undergo voluntary HIV testing and counseling – however, only the penis-washing study received money from the 2009 economic stimulus law. The washing portion of the study is set to end in 2011.
A few hundred thousand here, a few hundred thousand there…pretty soon you’re talking real money.
Whenever I see stories like this it reminds me of the many times liberals have screamed that we need higher taxes if we hope to keep our roads paved. Bah!
Everybody should be outraged over this kind of spending. Yesterday I heard Rush blaming this particular expense on Obama and liberal spending. But isn’t the real problem the lobbyist and their influence on getting these little gems inserted into larger bills? Do you think they only influence democrats?
Joe, I know that too many republicans have done this too. Hey, I just remembered..Obama promised this would be one of his changes, no more pork. Hmmm….so much for another promise.
I’m confused. Why is trying to prevent AIDS in South Africa such a crazy idea? I can understand the argument that we should spend at home first, but this is hardly the most outrageous use of tax dollars I can think of.
“Why is trying to prevent AIDS in South Africa such a crazy idea..”
Chris, you come off sounding morally superior again…thats a leftist trait. And challenging the obvious like this stupid spending is the trap that people who spend other peoples money fall into in Washington.
There’s a black hole of need in this world and, it exceeds the world’s resources and certainly our resources. There is always somebodys great idea to spend money on…and if we did we would be ruined and there wouldn’t be any money being spent on any worthy causes.
So we discriminate and we select what we can afford and the eternal argument from the left is it was never enough, we must spend more, more, more, and more!!!
It’s time to grow up.
In this world there is such a thing as personal accountability. 99% of the black men in Africa would have no trouble figuring out how to strip clean an AK47, because where there is a will…there is always a way. Move that technical skill over to personal cleanliness. To hand-hold adults and treat them as children and tell them to wash their junk after sex is silly and it’s likely not necessary to the prevention of AIDS, it was just an idea that has yet to bear any merit.
Basic sanitation and sanitary hygiene is known to the poorest of South African’s, it’s hardly the white mans little secret. It’s something that is widely taught and has been taught for many decades, does it really take us today and our $823,000 to get them to wash their freakin privates? Its their personal choice, just like having unprotected sex in the midst of an AIDS epidemic. They have the information whether they use it or not is more of a Darwin thing…not your thing.
99% of the black men in Africa would have no trouble figuring out how to strip clean an AK47
Source please, or are just making things up again?
In this world there is such a thing as personal accountability.
Does this apply to Israel?
Can we stop sending them money too?
According to “Avert”, an international AIDS charity, the US proposed spending $48 Billion from 2009 to 2013 on programs to address HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. The UK spent around $850 million in 2005/06, and has committed up to 1 billion of funds to the Global Fund for the years leading up to 2015. Bill and Malinda Gates have donated through their foundation $600 million since 1998 for AIDS and other diseases. Merck through its foundation has worked with Bill Gates and the government of Batswana to find remedies in that country.
http://www.avert.org/aids-funding.htm
MSNBC reported in 2008 that the world spends $8-10 Billion every year on AIDS and some experts are wondering if some of it should be spent for other concerns like clean water, family planning, diarrhea, and malaria.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22726852/
Considering all of the money already being spent on HIV/AIDS why would our government spend $823K of the STIMULUS FUNDS on a GRANT for a STUDY!
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This isn’t about AIDS and Africa…it’s about a UCLA research team being funded for another year! Remember the University of California System was the biggest donor to the Obama presidential campaign.
We have witnessed the targeted spending of the Obama administration, picking winners and losers, from the gitgo….like bailing out certain banks, saving state union jobs (teachers) and benefits, and saving union jobs and pensions by infusing funds and taking over GM and Chrystler.
Put it all together and you see that a number of hefty donors have gotten a fair share of the wealth that is being spread around.
“This isn’t about AIDS and Africa…it’s about a UCLA research team being funded for another year! Remember the University of California System was the biggest donor to the Obama presidential campaign.”
This might have been a better lead, since it seems to be a legitimate disagreement.
“99% of the black men in Africa would have no trouble figuring out how to strip clean an AK47 Source please, or are just making things up again?” Jack Lee
Mark, I wasn’t being serious, I meant it facetiously. Why are you so literal, and I mean to a fault, that you couldn’t see that?
“In this world there is such a thing as personal accountability. Does this apply to Israel? Can we stop sending them money too?”
Mark, I hate to be the one to point this out because now it looks like I am picking on you, but there is a chasm of difference between supporting our only true friend and the only democracy in the Middle East verses spending our money to instruct uncircumcised black males in South Africa to wash their penis’ after sex because it might (who knows) lower the risk of AIDS. One would think if there was even the slightess hint that doing this might help you avoid AIDS you would do it and you wouldn’t need a team of ad specialists to convince you! Then again if you were smart you would not be having unprotected sex in the middle of an AIDS epidemic in the first place. That is the opposite of smart. So how much money are you willing to spend to save every human on the planet from themselves; from their own indifference and stupidity? Here’s how much I am willing to spend ….. ( )
Jack,
AIDS education may seem simpleminded to you, but I trust the people doing it to think that teaching people to wash their junk after sex is important to stopping the spread of AIDS, which can be just as destabilizing to a country as armed rebellion.
Come on, do you wash your junk after sex? Every time? I don’t. So, I can see why people in AIDS ravaged areas might need to be told.
Tina had it right. This was more about keeping research going at UCLA, and cash going to the research team, so they could then spend it in LA, CA.
This is questionable use of stimulus money. It is a fine public health program, IMHO.
As for the AK question, it is hard to tell when you are serious, given some past statements that I thought were clearly in jest, but were not. Sorry.
AIDS education does not seem simpleminded to me at all. But, now you’re mixing apples with oranges.
The information on how to be safe from AIDS is out here and it has been for decades. Teams of medical people, missionaries, government outreach and all sorts of people and campaigns have sought to educate at risk people in Africa.
By now after all that has been done, if those informed and educated adults STILL go out of their way and choose to engage in repeated acts of reckless, dangerous sex then too bad for them.
It’s going to take a lot more than our $823k that we pissed away over in South Africa.
The millions we spent on education there all over Africa have had very little impact on their behavior that leads to AIDS transmission.
However, if that $823k were spent here in Chico it would have at least some demonstrable impact on our local economy.
Besides its our hard earned tax money, what right does the government have giving it away on some moronic do-nothing, feel good, experiment in Africa? Its overkill, it’s redundant and its unnecessary.
Good Lord…this is sooooo obvious and yet here we are debating it?
Mark, honestly… your kind of illogical, but feel good thinking, is what is driving us into the poor house. You just can’t say NO to any feel good project for fear you’ll come under fire for not being more caring and more sensitive than us mean ol republicans. Better to be spending away on foolishness than to be accused of not caring,huh? Sorry, didn’t mean to be impertinent, but its how I feel.
Joe I missed this earlier:
“But isn’t the real problem the lobbyist”
Even with lobbyist the real problem is still congress. Lobbying began as a way to protect businesses from the overreach of governemnt…stupid regualtion and punishing taxes and fees. It also began as a way to get special treatment or help, like farm subsidies…but government started that business too.
When government stops overstepping, congressmen will have to look elsewhere for “support dollars” from companies in order to get elected. Lobbying may never stop but it could become a lot less active.
“what right does the government have giving away our tax dollars for some moronic do-nothing feel good project in Africa?”
Particularly when they called it “stimulus” money because it was supposed to be used to “stimulate” the US economy!
“…illogical, but feel good thinking is what is killing this country.”
And this is an excellent example! TONS of money is already being poured into this cause in many nations including the US and within research programs and the Pharmacuitical Industry. The NEED, even based on feel good thinking, is overkill and waste. After twenty to thirty years we are still not much further ahead than when we started. Why throw more dollars at it because it feels like a nice thing to do? There should be a way to determine if the dollars being spent are having the result they should and if not something different should be done. That never happens. Once we are in a spending groove the record never stops! It becomes and expensive meaningless way to feel OK for having done something!
Jack,
Let’s separate the apples and oranges.
AIDS education. Lot harder than you think. Clean junk program worth it.
Stimulus funding. Why this project? Money should be spent here to solve problems here.
I think we agree on the second, and will never agree on the first.
Agreed?
Agreed Mark and I thank you for your compassion on this subject, even though we differ on some points. We need advocates like yourself to offset the eternal nay sayers on my side.
You are a good man Jack.
A humble thank you Mark.
In the grand scheme of things we require someone to always be beating the drums as an advocate for some worthy cause. They won’t always be successful and thats a given, because on the other side there are some people dedicated to saying no. But, it shouldn’t prevent them from trying. The point here is that the worthy cause might not even come up for consideration without those caring advocates. Thank you for beating the drums. And this includes Chris too…
Thanks, Jack.