Could the 2024 General Election (early voting begins October 15) lead to healthier, smarter, and longer lives? It just might.
One of the most unfortunate episodes in American history was when the federal government took over the sciences, especially those related to our health. Because federal government agencies cannot resist political influence and private sector temptations, government-controlled and funded research can be tainted and sometimes dangerous.
Private influence on government policy
There is no shortage of ethical dilemmas in the federal government. One such problem is that agency leadership often eventually leaves their government positions and transitions into lucrative positions with the same private industries they were previously regulating.
Let’s use a little common sense and consider whether we think those government officials would land big-money private industry gigs if they were not acting favorably toward those private interests.
In 2016, National Public Radio reported, “More than a quarter of the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] employees who approved cancer and hematology drugs from 2001 through 2010 left the agency and now work or consult for pharmaceutical companies, according to research published by a prominent medical journal Tuesday.” (“A Look At How The Revolving Door Spins From FDA To Industry,” September 28, 2016, NPR).
“Sometimes, the public needs [the FDA reviewers] to be firm. If they’re not, no one else in the health care sector is going to be,” Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist and assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University, said, adding that once the agency approves a drug, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has to cover it and can’t negotiate prices under current laws. “The FDA is often the only real wall between ineffective, harmful drugs and patients.”
For example 2009, Dr. Julie Gerberding, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was named president of Merck & Co Inc’s vaccine division. Did the potential of a big payday influence her agency’s rigid policies on vaccines and vaccine mandates?
To see just how bad it can get, read “The FDA and Moderna’s cosy relationship: how lax rules enable a revolving door culture” in the British Medical Journal, November 2023.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s second-in-command, Louis Milione, quietly stepped down in 2023 amid reporting by The Associated Press that he once consulted for a pharmaceutical distributor sanctioned for a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments and did similar work for the drugmaker that became the face of the opioid epidemic: Purdue Pharma (“DEA’s No. 2 quits amid reports of consulting work for Big Pharma,” Federal Times, July 19, 2023).
The influential consulting firm McKinsey & Company had an employee consulting with opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma at the same time he was consulting with the Food and Drug Administration to overhaul its office that approves new drugs — the same office that would determine the regulatory fate of Purdue’s new line of proposed products (“McKinsey Opened a Door in Its Firewall Between Pharma Clients and Regulators,” New York Times, April 13, 2022).
Of course, we know that pharmaceutical corporations are multi-billion-dollar entities. They have the financial power to buy off Congress through campaign contributions.
Government tyranny over science
Wealthy corporations can influence government agency officials. Those officials can then manipulate the process by controlling significant government funding sources for medical research and medical researchers to aid those wealthy corporations.
Certain government officials get to control who receives large research grants and what will be researched.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) can legally collect royalties from their research that contributes to the creation of pharmaceutical corporations’ products. Between October 2021 and September 2023, $710 million was distributed among NIH’s institutes, centers, and individuals. Do you think that influences research grants?
In Congressional testimony, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he and other NIH officials who must submit a financial disclosure report are not required to include details about royalty payments they have received for products or treatments they developed for the government.
Fauci, who retired as the highest-paid federal employee, had a long tenure and held tight reins over which researchers were funded.
Documentation showed that Fauci circumvented government policy and funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, through the third-party bypass organization EcoHealth, run by Peter Daszak.
It is widely believed that Covid-19 was the result of a viral escape from the Wuhan laboratory that killed people around the world.
Documentation also shows that Fauci and others attempted a cover-up and used NIH grant recipients to make false claims about Covid-19. Coincidentally, some researchers who changed their statements on the virus, defending Fauci, received large grants from NIH afterward.
Do you think any of the courageous experts who took issue with the government’s false narrative on the pandemic will ever be awarded another NIH grant?
There’s hope for change
One prominent individual, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been citing the abuse and fighting the federal government agencies for years.
The Democrat Party rebuffed Kennedy’s attempts to restructure and clean up the corruption that impacts our health. He decided to run for president as an independent and recently abandoned his campaign to support Donald Trump, who embraced Kennedy’s bold stance to reform the federal public health agencies.
Trump relayed that there is a position in the administration for Kennedy, and they have coined the phrase “Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy knows how the system works and has fought the government in the courts. His appointment could be the biggest revolution in public health since the creation of the CDC.
It’s time to stop the collusion between big pharma and the federal government. Our nation gets less healthy every year, and we have got to turn the ship around for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Early voting begins October 15 — go vote.
[Brown is a former mayor of Peachtree City and served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. You can read all his columns by clicking on his photo below.]
The only barrier to truth is the assumption that you already have it.
Thank you Steve for a great article. I trust no one since Covid. The government has lied repeatedly. I used to trust the CDC no question and now I will never trust them. They care NOTHING about our health. The USA used to be the gold standard and now there are other European countries that have banned certain chemicals and additives that the US still approves of. It is sickening what has been done to the baby food industry. Why are babies given a vaccine as an infant that only prostitutes and drug users need? It’s one of the hepatitis vaccines. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it’s just like I will never forget the way people behaved toward the people that decided not to become vaccinated with the Covid vaccine, people turned into evil jerks and treated them like outcasts when in reality they were correct. Pharmaceuticals are only out for the money and the government and those companies are in it together. Steve, you’re greatly appreciated and keep writing these articles because trust me there are a lot of people out there that are with you!
Oh, come on Steve. You weren’t this way at the dog park. In fact, doesn’t your PTC Dog Park mandate that dogs be vaccinated to enter the park? (“Park Rules” – PTCdogpark.com)
I hope you don’t now believe that getting your dog vaccinated for rabies will cause it to have autism (“Vaccine hesitancy gives some US dog, cat owners cold feet”, January 23, 2024, AVMA)
Let’s set the record straight about CDC.
For over half a century, CDC has published the Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report (MMWR), through which CDC releases the statistics on communicable diseases, and its public health research. Throughout that time, the MMWR editorial board had complete control over the publication, ensuring the highest scientific rigor free from political influence (“A History of MMWR”, October 7, 2011, CDC).
Until the Trump administration. At that point, the White House was concerned that the scientific work published in MMWR didn’t align with their political agenda, and thus the approval process changed such that the White House Communication Office had to give approval for each weekly publication.
The Biden administration reversed that decision, such that MMWR is now published free from influence of the White House.
Now let’s set the record straight about vaccines.
The course of human history was changed with the advent of the Smallpox vaccine. Prior to that, significant numbers of people died of smallpox throughout the world. Up to 90% of the Native American population died from Smallpox and other “old world” diseases once the Europeans discovered the Americas. The advent of the Smallpox vaccine eradicated that disease, with the final touches being “ring vaccination” methods to prevent the spread from any infected person. The last known case of Smallpox was in 1977, so now we no longer have to be vaccinated (“Smallpox”, American Museum of Natural History, AMNH.org).
We were almost there with Measles until the anti-vaxxers lit up the conspiracy airwaves. Measles is so contagious that anytime the vaccination coverage of a specific group of people drops below 80%, an outbreak of measles will occur shortly. Two cases in point:
In 2013, there was an outbreak of measles among children in Dallas Texas. The common link among the children was that their families attended the same megachurch. For two years, the pastor of the church had been preaching on the evils of vaccination, so parents stopped getting their kids vaccinated. The result was an outbreak among the children of the church. (“Texas Megachurch Scrutinized Following Measles Outbreak”, August 31, 2013, CBS News).
And in 2023-2024, due to the number of under-vaccinated migrants in shelters, there was a community outbreak in Chicago. This outbreak was halted by ensuring that the migrants in the shelters were vaccinated. (“Chicago public health officials declare end to measles outbreak”, May 30, 2024, CBS Chicago)
Oh, and COVID-19? Research on the genetic variants indicate that the live Raccoon Dogs sold as food in the Wuhan wet market is the source of the virus that spread around the world, with illness spreading among workers as early as November 2019. It is disingenuous to claim that a 2020 lab leak, whether or not intentional, caused the outbreak. (“New research points to raccoon dogs in Wuhan market as pandemic trigger.”, September 19, 2024, NPR)
And while I agree that it looks bad for Federal public health leaders to take position in private industry once they leave government work, it’s not because the pharmacological industry had these leaders in their pocket. Rather, it’s because these people are respected scientists and administrators of the world’s best public health research institutes. When the White House turns over and forces out the previous CDC, NIH, or FDA leaders, it’s natural for private industry to hire them into leadership positions.
Unfortunately, the Trump pattern of behavior to fire the public health leaders who offend his sensitive ego will be formalized in Project 2025 should Trump regain control. That plan includes splitting CDC into two sub-agencies in order to allow tighter political control by the White House. (“The CDC could shrink under a second Trump administration”, March 11, 2024, Politico)
A Project 2025 CDC would probably end up showing the effectiveness of injecting Lysol to prevent infection, and how the Haitian migrants were attempting to vaccinate themselves from Rabies by eating pets. And we’ll see Sharpie lines added to computer-generated graphs to show the decline in diseases the administration desires.
They certainly won’t let science get in the way of politics.
But I ramble…
You may choose to not read the ingredients of what you’re injecting into your loved ones but some people actually do read the ingredients. They can choose to not inject aluminum salts, formaldehyde & other toxins like dog kidney and fetal tissue (learntherisk.org- it should not be scary to learn something new). You may want to blindly trust an imperfect industry with your health but some people do not. Especially since nutrition is unknown in that industry. If you view yourself as tolerant you should tolerate all people not just the ones that align with your viewpoints. You can live your life scared of ‘the wild’ but others choose not to fear coming in contact with anything in ‘the wild’. You may not trust your own immune system but others do trust their immune systems. You may choose to allow your mind to be programmed with made up derogatory words like ‘antivaxer’ but others already know that being organic is what makes you human, organic comes first. You may enjoy your choices. Because we will continue to enjoy ours. I suggest anyone reading this to educate themselves on the symbiotic relationship between candida & (injecting or ingesting) metals. There you will find that those tumors are actually trying to save your life from the toxins in your body. It’s the cutting them open and spilling those toxins back into the body that becomes the problem. Learn how to detox. And ignore people that name call. Their minds are stuck in grade school.
I apologize if I offended you with the “anti-vaxxer” term. I should have written “those opposed to vaccination”. Those who choose not to vaccinate do have that choice, but that choice is not based on science, which was the topic of the article.
As we learned in grade school, “science” is not about absolutes. In the scientific processes, based on probabilities, there are errors. Errors in hypotheses, errors in measurement, and errors in interpretation are all accounted for in the scientific process. And the repetitive process of science allows new knowledge to be gained that may refute prior findings.
Thus, with vaccines (or any other product… drugs, cars, ham sandwiches, etc.), there is a remote possibility that harm can occur. For the individual, it’s a decision as to whether the risk of the adverse event is more of a threat than the benefit of getting vaccinated.
For example, if one is concerned that their dog may develop autism if vaccinated for rabies, and they are fairly certain that their dog won’t come into contact with a rabid bat, cat, fox, etc. (all found within PTC), then they don’t get the dog vaccinated. They just don’t get the added benefit of getting to take the dog to the public dog park or a boarding kennel. And if the dog does catch rabies, well, they can always get another dog (and hope their family didn’t get exposed to rabies).
But I like to ramble in the woods, so I get my dog vaccinated.
Doon – I was inferring but guess I should be precise – about the useless covid vaccines that even caused the CDC to redefine the term “vaccine” in order to make the Covid mRNA jabs appear to fit the new definition. Never before could I find, in my research, the need for a vaccine to be “boosted” multiple times so soon. And never before did I find a “vaccine” that had full government approval but caused so many negative and serious side effects. Back when scientists did research for the common good (instead of for profit alone) we had amazing results with the vaccines you mentioned above, that cured and eradicated so many terrible diseases like smallpox, polio, mumps, measles, rubella, etc. Unfortunately that is not the case with modern medicine. We now have a software engineer tycoon profiting wildly from and encouraging the use of faux vaccines and predicting future pandemics…..not exactly the science that made all of us healthier and improved the quality of lives like the vaccines you mentioned.
Two years ago, the CDC changed part of its definition on vaccines because the former version could be interpreted to mean that all vaccines were 100% effective. This has never been the case for any vaccine. It is the case that someone, somewhere either here or around the globe, although vaccinated may still contract the disease. Even Merriam-Webster dictionary made a similar change to its definition.
For clarification, the former definition had in there … “producing immunity … protecting the person from that disease.” Now it states, “… stimulate the body’s immune response against that disease.” That is the reason one might hear, “well I did get vaccinated for Shingles, but still got it anyway but it was said to be a much milder case.”
The reason for follow up shots, and drilling down a bit here, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron has new variants KP.2, KP.2.3, KP.3 and KP.3.1.1, as well as LB.1 showing the higher prevalence in the US as of Sept. 17, 2024. The KP.3.1.1. accounts for half of the illnesses in the US at this point. Of course, this is just within this country and not elsewhere.
yeah Steve , I’m going to take health advice , or want to eat from a guy who has a worm in the brain from eating from under cooked pork or put dead animal carcass in their car to eat later.
Maybe that’s what you are doing Steve , a worm eating your brain would explain a lot…
Steve – Is there any conspiracy theory so fantastical that you will not embrace and politicize it?
Of course money influences government officials on all levels. That is news on par with the declaration that sea water is salty. Supreme Court justices accept money from ideological supporters, Congressional representatives and senators become lobbyist, and some presidents even accept emoluments while in office. Interestingly, you only seem to see it on one end of the political spectrum, and then you inflate it with right wing talking points. When your poster boy is Robert Kennedy, Jr., you know that facts are no longer in play.
Please broaden your sources of information and fact check beyond Fox world.
Stranger – you ought to take Steve’s claims and fact-check them for yourself. Any evidence Steve provides – you’re going to shoot holes in. There’s nothing that Steve could say to convince you otherwise. “Those convinced against their will, are of the same opinion still.” I’d encourage you to dig into this for yourself. You’ll find out that Fauci et. al all took in LARGE sums of money from pharmaceutical companies. You’d find that wheat is sprayed (with the FDA’s blessing) with glyphosate (trade name: RoundUp) before harvest to kill the plant in order to speed the drying process….no wonder we have so many gluten allergies here but folks travel to to Italy and gorge themselves on pasta with no reactions. You’d find out the vast amounts of preservatives, dyes (petroleum based), and other additives that are banned around the world but okay here. Ever seen a young kid before and then after they eat Swedish Fish or Twizzlers? The Red40 drives many kids crazy….my two kids included. We all know your disdain for Steve – but look beyond the messenger here and look at the issue….you may learn something that helps your own health or that of your family, and it may change your life for the better.
Hi Wing – Will I also find that nefarious government actions ONLY happen on one end of the political spectrum? That is my beef with Steve and all of Fox world. When your news source doesn’t fact check BOTH ends of the ideological spectrum, it loses all credibility. Any reputable news source clearly differentiates between news stories and its opinion pages. Instead of railing against MSM, read the New York Times or Washington Post. Skip the op-eds if you don’t want an opinion, but please don’t come to these pages with news and opinion so deeply enmeshed that it can’t be separated.
Yes – the one side of the spectrum is the Establishment……which contains many Democrats and Republicans. I don’t trust the establishment. I trust independent voices who are fierce defenders of and advocates for the people they are voted to represent…..instead of being that for the corporations that line their pockets.
So, I assume you eschew a billionaire real estate mogul who panders to corporate interests and passed a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the corporate establishment over ordinary tax payers. I’m glad you have kept your eye on the ball and haven’t been taken in by the grievance rhetoric. I know you’ll vote against the billionaire. Congratulations for not being fooled by Fox world!
STF – you might not believe this – I don’t watch Fox. Haven’t for years. Regarding tax rates – my taxes were lower under Trump than Harris / Biden. I approve of cutting corporate taxes because they’re some of the highest in the world and all you’re doing is passing along the cost of the tax to the consumer. Corporations don’t pay taxes – the cost of the taxes is hidden into the cost of the goods sold and services provided. I assume I’m not explaining a new concept to you – but a good reminder might be helpful.
Billionaire – Trump made his money in the private sector. I’ll vote for a person who’s successful in the private sector a thousand times before I vote for a politician who was flat broke and got into politics and is now worth multiple millions of dollars…..regardless of party. I assume you want to vote for those who get fat off the grease of lobbyists?
This billionaire you hate so much – without so much as offering a logical reason to hate him – also did more for the common everyday man than any politician I can think of in recent memory. “Drill baby drill” led to cheaper energy, which is a component of keeping prices and inflation low. Factory and plant improvements and investments were rampant under Trump. Even the unions and their members – who I think you might include in your class of “ordinary tax payers” are shifting their support to Trump in numbers never seen before. Seems like you might need to do a little soul searching as to why your heart is so hardened against Trump and why you’re so set on making an emotional decision to hate him, instead of reaching a logical, well-though out conclusion on who to support.
Wingman – Congratulations for staying away from Fox, but apparently you’ve discovered a source just as inaccurate. Let’s look at your points.
No federal tax laws have changed in the last four years, so congratulations that you are paying more taxes. That means that you are making more money. Harris is proposing to raise taxes on individuals who make over $400,000 a year, not corporations. That deflates your “pass along” argument.
45 made money gaming the capitalistic system. He has a long history of shorting payments to his contractors, and he has declared bankruptcy six times to avoid insolvency, hardly a record of success.
American oil and natural production is HIGHER today than in 2020 – I’m sure this is an inconvenient truth your non-Fox news source seems to have omitted.
Rather than opposing the orange man from passion, I soberly recognize his temperamental and moral unfitness to be the mayor of a small town, much less leader of a grand country. Over 90 of the people in his former administration, including his vice president, attorney general, and head of the joint chiefs of staff have declared him unfit for our highest office.
A voter must ignore a plethora of facts to support a failed politician. I hope you won’t fall prey to seductive populism based upon vaporware.
Fiction – once again, I need to correct you. Harris is proposing to raise taxes by 33% on corporations, which Wing accurately said gets passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices, and hurts US competitiveness in a world where big businesses can and do go almost anywhere. “Harris proposes raising corporate tax rate to 28% to help pay for campaign promises” CNN 8/19/24
And Harris will also not renew the Trump tax cuts, which will raise tax rates and lower the standard deduction for almost all taxpayers. “Average (federal tax) rates declined across all income groups and have remained below their 2017 levels since” Trump’s tax cuts. “Tax Calculator: How the TCJA’s Expiration Will Affect You” Tax Foundation 3/12/24
While oil production has increased under Biden / Harris, it is despite their efforts to kill carbon-based energy. And we are no longer energy independent, since the US is a net importer of oil under Biden / Harris. Politifact 7/26/24
Plus, Harris has stated she intends to ban fracking, halt pipeline building and will continue the Biden / Harris ban on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports. “Biden admin’s LNG export ban puts nearly 1 million jobs at risk: study” MSN.com 10/16/24
To your last lame point about the endorsement of 90 former Trump staff, what about the more than 300 national security experts and Cabinet members who endorsed Trump, saying “The policies of the Biden-Harris Administration have invited conflict, diminished America’s standing around the globe, and imperiled our national security”? “Former Trump national security aides endorse him amid turmoil overseas” NBC News 10/2/24
300 is 3x your 90, so by your logic you’ll now vote for Trump, right?
Hi Penny – You forgot about the issue of character and temperament. As I’ve stated many times before on these pages, even if I agreed with every policy initiative of 45, his character flaws disqualify him for office. I could never vote for a convicted felon, adjudicated sex abuser, and adjudicated liar about his business affairs who orchestrated an attempt to overthrow the elected president, injuring over 100 police officers in the melee.
There was a time in the not so distant past that Republicans believed in law and order and offered candidates that had fine character. Now hate and grievance are the only requisites for their candidates for high office. I miss the old Republican party and its candidates whom I voted for often.
Fiction – so once again your attempts to stretch the truth have been revealed. You are left with, “But Trump is mean” as your only reason to support Harris.
I have already addressed the “convicted felon” scam in previous comments as a clear hijacking of the legal system by progressive DA’s who were elected to “get Trump” and create a talking point in the election. One by one, the cases are falling by the wayside, and the conviction will be overturned on appeal.
I also have previously listed the numerous moral failings and lies of Harris, starting with her affair with married 60-year old San Francisco mayor Willie Brown resulting in appointments to cushy six figure patronage jobs, through her repeated lies that “the border is secure” and that Joe Biden is “as sharp as a tack”, etc. You can’t skewer Trump on character and also overlook the many flaws in Harris.
Biden rescued Harris from the political scrap heap for DEI reasons (his words, not mine) in 2020, and kept her on the 2024 ticket despite calls to replace her for someone better, yet Harris conspired with Obama and Pelosi to knife Biden out of the 2024 race. Amazingly, Harris has moved from the most unpopular VP to be the selected Dem candidate in mere months – – and you’re buying it.
You say it’s Republicans that don’t believe in law and order? You missed that its the Dems who have weaponized the DOJ, defunded the police, opened the border, used the IRS against conservatives and gone soft on crime. They want to pack the Supreme Court, get rid of the filibuster, end the Electoral College, and pay off others’ student loans despite being ruled against by the Supreme Court. Dems don’t enforce the law against harassing members of the Supreme Court at their homes, assure the civil rights of Jews or verify that only citizens vote. They censor social media content they don’t like, and ignore the whole Biden Family / Hunter Biden grift. And on it goes.
Which brings us back around to what matters: we are hiring someone to bring their policies and competence to be President. Harris falls flat on the most important issues of the border, the economy, inflation, national security and energy, not to mention considerable questions about her capabilities.
Harris said she wouldn’t change a thing done in the disastrous Biden / Harris administration. Unless you want a repeat of the last 4 years (Thank you, sir, may I have another?!”), we must vote for Trump.
Hi Penny – If you can justify 45 with all of your Fox-world spin, of course you’ll act accordingly. I am unable to look the other way. 45 is a convicted felon and sexual abuser who is consistent only in his untruthfulness concerning just about any topic. If Joe Biden is not as sharp as a tack (he isn’t), then 45 is duller yet. Both are too old to be chief executive, but only 45 attempted to overthrow a presidential election. Harris is no great candidate, but she isn’t 45. That is her greatest asset.
Just because you can convince yourself that 45 is not a criminal doesn’t make it true. Just because you can convince yourself that 45 is not a sexual predator doesn’t mean it is true. Just because you can convince yourself that 45 is not a malignant narcissistic liar doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Vote as you please; that’s your right (at least for now), but don’t expect others to accept an untruth just because you must believe it to justify your choice.
Steve I think your connection between our nations overall health and big pharma is just touching the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much wrong with so many of the government agencies that are supposed to be looking out for our health: the FDA allows so many chemicals and additives in our food that are banned in the majority of the rest of the world; the CDC and NIH pushing useless vaccines that casue more harm and prevent harm; the Dept of Ag and their food pyramid that stresses grains and carbohydrates and dairy; not to mention our dept of education and the damage they do to our kids mental health by the ridiculousness they’re promoting in public schools. It’s time to come to grips with the fact that our government is widely not acting in our best interests, but they’re acting in the best interests of the corporate lobbyists that line their pockets.
I am curious wing, your specific claim that the CDC and NIH are pushing useless vaccines. Just exactly which vaccines are you referring to? The FDA is responsible for determining whether individual vaccines should be authorized for use in the United States. There are over 80 approved by the FDA here in the US; for Adenovirus, Anthrax, Diphtheria, Hepatitis … down the list to Yellow Fever and Zoster. That’s A-Z. Just exactly which vaccines are useless? I am not aware of any medical data that supports your claim. Thanks in advance for your response.