Our tax dollars are regularly misspent on all sorts of things, from pork barrel projects to waste and fraud. So it should come as no surprise - though it should be accompanied with outrage - that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is spending our money on the following: shirtless men cuddling on billboards, ads promoting "toys for solo and partner sex" and a drag queen who stars in a TV commercial. It's part of a federal campaign against AIDS.
A coalition of members of Congress are protesting the ads and spending for them. They are also criticizing the CDC for promoting the Playboy Foundation and a pro-choice organization on its Internet database.
Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Joe Pitts wrote HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. He said, "You know, in a time of national crisis, our public health experts should be using our tax dollars for programs that benefit all Americans."
The best way to prevent the consequences of certain sexual activity is not to engage in that activity. But that apparently is too easy for our government, even under supposedly conservative Republicans.