After weeks of debate over whether the Prevention and Public Health Fund, created by President Obamas health care law, affects womens health, Republicans are airing additional complaints about the pool of money and how states and communities have used the fund to support a string of questionable initiatives. <\/p>\n
The future of the fund, which got $1 billion this year and is slated to get $1.25 billion in 2013, has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans want to kill it and use the money to pay for an extension of student-loan interest-rate subsidies, while Democrats have vowed to defend it as a key part of Mr. Obamas health care legacy. <\/p>\n
In fact, Mr. Obama has vowed to veto House Republicans student-loan bill because it eliminates the prevention fund, claiming that Republicans are trying to force Democrats to choose between backing students and supporting womens health. <\/p>\n
Last week, he told high school students in Northern Virginia that Republicans are only going to prevent the student loans from doubling if they can cut things like preventative health care for women instead. <\/p>\n
The argument that slashing the prevention fund would hurt womens health has been widely debunked over the past week, but Republicans are honing in on the money stream for other reasons as well. <\/p>\n
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Rep. Darrell E. Issa of California, the top Republicans on the Senate and House oversight committees, are questioning whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is using some of the funds properly. They said the healthy living money is being used to pay for campaigns to change state laws, which could violate federal rules against using taxpayer dollars for lobbying. <\/p>\n
While I strongly support the wellness and prevention mission of the CDC, Miss Collins said last week, I also support the safeguards Congress has put in place on the use of federal funds to protect against the misuse of tax dollars. Every dollar spent on inappropriate or illegal activities is a dollar that didnt go toward saving lives and improving health. <\/p>\n
Rep. Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee, during a hearing Wednesday questioned the funds spending to promote recreational destinations, intergenerational urban gardening and community bike-sharing programs around the country. <\/p>\n
Money from one of the funds anti-obesity campaigns, Mr. Stearns said, was provided to Kauai, Hawaii, to develop remote school drop-off sites to encourage students and staff to walk farther distances to school entrances. <\/p>\n
Perhaps [the Health and Human Services Department] is telling Congress that we should eliminate mass transit as part of our war against obesity, he said. Incredibly, this same program also funded free pet spaying and neutering. While a laudable goal, the Department of Health and Human Services should focus its limited resources on human health. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Health care law's prevention money called 'slush fund'<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After weeks of debate over whether the Prevention and Public Health Fund, created by President Obamas health care law, affects womens health, Republicans are airing additional complaints about the pool of money and how states and communities have used the fund to support a string of questionable initiatives. The future of the fund, which got $1 billion this year and is slated to get $1.25 billion in 2013, has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans want to kill it and use the money to pay for an extension of student-loan interest-rate subsidies, while Democrats have vowed to defend it as a key part of Mr. Continue reading