Bush: Fighting AIDS Overseas With $30 bn of Your Money

Money tree

Nothing invokes ire on this site more than politicians spending taxpayer money for their feel-good causes. Typically reserved for liberal Democrats, the idea that Bush falls in line with this brand of politics shocks the conscience. So, I suppose kudos are in order this time around to the invisible hand of the pharmaceutical’s lobby. Via the Washington Post:

 

Known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the program is devoting about $15 billion over five years to buy antiretroviral drugs, create prevention programs and fund assistance for people suffering from the disease all over the world.

. . .

After meeting with the AIDS service providers, Bush called on Congress to once again double spending on the PEPFAR initiative for the next five years, to $30 billion in all. He also announced that he will travel to Africa early next year to check on the results of the U.S. effort.

Thirty, even fifteen, billion dollars is a staggering sum of money for the government to be spending overseas - fighting a highly politicized disease at that. (I highly recommend Deconstructing the Myth of AIDS, a two-hour video that may leave you thinking differently about HIV, AIDS, and the medical community in general.) To quickly recap why this is unconstitutional:

  1. Violates the 10th Amendment

It’s that easy. I challenge even the most liberal and intellectual elite amongst the legal community to point out where the Constitution gives congress the authority to solve AIDS in Africa. Difficulty: if you cite the “general welfare” clause, we’ll have to devote that to another discussion.

Of course, we as individuals already have the opportunity to donate our money to AIDS causes as we see fit. If only we had the freedom to do so without being coerced by the don’t-tax-and-still-spend GOP. I said it. The don’t-tax-and-still-spend GOP. Makes you wish we all had mints in our back yards with which to solve the AIDS epidemic.

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