News
Jun 18 2007
Editorial: CDC focus gone awry
ZERO-gravity chairs, a "mood-enhancing" light show, and a special Hollywood liaison office - the Centers for Disease Control can't thank you enough for paying for them. These are recent disclosures about life at the federal CDC in Atlanta, the place most people think of as the command post and statistics center where government wages war on disease.
But things are a little out of whack there, according to U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, who says the CDC is spending public dollars on perks not relevant to its purpose. The freshman senator has raised questions about expensive projects that might make employees feel better but have little direct public benefit.
This is all part of massive construction at the Atlanta headquarters that has exceeded $1 billion, including a $110 million headquarters building named for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, who chaired the subcommittee that set the CDC budget before Democrats took control of Congress. Nobody expects CDC employees to have to toil in Ebenezer Scrooge-like conditions. An employee fitness center makes good sense.
But $200,000 worth of zero-gravity chairs? For that matter, what the heck is a zero-gravity chair? And light shows?
Senator Coburn, a practicing physician and ranking minority member of an oversight committee, knows the public expects the agency to act within the guidelines of the mission to improve and protect public health.
However, according to his 115-page report on excessive spending at the CDC, common sense is a casualty at the agency.
Some of the core ideas are good. Communicating with the public is a vital part of the CDC's role, and a new communications center may be justified. But is a 70-foot by 25-foot wall of plasma video screens for visitors really needed? The $106 million center is named for Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, formerly on the panel that oversaw CDC spending. It includes an $18.6 million video production studio. Does the CDC plan to compete with Hollywood?
Speaking of show biz, the senator also questioned $1.7 million earmarked for the agency to lend its expertise to TV shows such as 24 and ER. We have no problem with advising TV producers how to avoid spreading needless health fears. The lavish equipment is another story.
Senator Coburn has rightly questioned the CDC's expenditures. But he shouldn't expect to get a CDC building named for him.
But things are a little out of whack there, according to U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, who says the CDC is spending public dollars on perks not relevant to its purpose. The freshman senator has raised questions about expensive projects that might make employees feel better but have little direct public benefit.
This is all part of massive construction at the Atlanta headquarters that has exceeded $1 billion, including a $110 million headquarters building named for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, who chaired the subcommittee that set the CDC budget before Democrats took control of Congress. Nobody expects CDC employees to have to toil in Ebenezer Scrooge-like conditions. An employee fitness center makes good sense.
But $200,000 worth of zero-gravity chairs? For that matter, what the heck is a zero-gravity chair? And light shows?
Senator Coburn, a practicing physician and ranking minority member of an oversight committee, knows the public expects the agency to act within the guidelines of the mission to improve and protect public health.
However, according to his 115-page report on excessive spending at the CDC, common sense is a casualty at the agency.
Some of the core ideas are good. Communicating with the public is a vital part of the CDC's role, and a new communications center may be justified. But is a 70-foot by 25-foot wall of plasma video screens for visitors really needed? The $106 million center is named for Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, formerly on the panel that oversaw CDC spending. It includes an $18.6 million video production studio. Does the CDC plan to compete with Hollywood?
Speaking of show biz, the senator also questioned $1.7 million earmarked for the agency to lend its expertise to TV shows such as 24 and ER. We have no problem with advising TV producers how to avoid spreading needless health fears. The lavish equipment is another story.
Senator Coburn has rightly questioned the CDC's expenditures. But he shouldn't expect to get a CDC building named for him.
