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Monday, July 30, 2007

Science-based Policy Not Bush's Cup of Tea

Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona's claim that senior Bush administration officials interfered with his work has caused quite the controversy. Now, more information is surfacing as to the exact incidences of manipulation.

A report titled, "Call to Action on Global Health" was commissioned by Carmona but never published. According to The Washington Post, "Three people directly involved in its preparation said its publication was blocked by William R. Steiger, a specialist in education and a scholar of Latin American history whose family has long ties to President Bush and Vice President Cheney."

The report doesn't espouse any revolutionary ideas. According to the Post, it identifies the link between poverty and public health, calls for citizens and corporations to take action to improve health conditions, and recommends America make the issue of global health a primary aspect of its foreign policy.

Of course, none of these findings jibes with the ideas of President Bush. This White House has been loath to address poverty and inequality issues and would never ask Americans or American corporations to sacrifice in the name of a greater good. (Maybe if the report told Americans to improve global health conditions by going to the mall it wouldn't have been tampered with.)

You wouldn't expect a surgeon general report to immediately change the way individuals, businesses and government operate. Rather, documents like this are about science-based policy ideas. Unfortunately, higher-ups in the Bush administration foolishly think they already have all the ideas America could ever need.