Republicans and Conservatives are flooding their constituents and certain media outlets with the insane notion that the Obama administration is spending money we don’t have. I used to believe this rumor too, and in fact I have erroneously perpetuated it here.
(CNS News) — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1.5 million to study biological and social factors for why “three-quarters” of lesbians are obese and why gay males are not, calling it an issue of “high public-health significance.”
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass., has received two grants administered by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to study the relationship between sexual orientation and obesity.
[…]
“Obesity is one of the most critical public health issues affecting the U.S. today,” the description of the grant reads. “Racial and socioeconomic disparities in the determinants, distribution, and consequences of obesity are receiving increasing attention.”
“[H]owever, one area that is only beginning to be recognized is the striking interplay of gender and sexual orientation in obesity disparities,” it states. “It is now well-established that women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic…”
After all, if we were truly in the serious debt crisis as the GOP claims, would the government really be spending $1.5 million to find out why lesbians are fat?
Is this truly a good use of the public treasury — the money confiscated by the government for frivolous purposes? Does anyone believe the Founding Fathers would approve of such use of collected taxes?
Tell ’em why you so fat
Sifting Reality 
Now that I think about it, most of the lesbians I know are a bit chunky…I went to EMT school with this one girl who I thought was quite cute. She was a bigger girl, but cute. And I’ve always had an affinity for bigger girls. So, I decided to spark up a conversation…
My first clue should have been the boyish clothes and the short spiked hair. But sadly, it wasn’t until she started talking that I realized I was barking up the WRONG tree….
Weird. Why are lesbians fat and so many gay guys skinny? Interesting. But worth the money to study? No!
It sort of reminds me of the money spent to study the masturbation habits of old men. 2006 Article
They are fat because they have so many emotional problems being lesbian, and they eat themselves fat. I heard a lady on Rush today (I was out and heard it on a radio) who said the reason was because women who have men lovers have to worry about looks, but women don’t care about looks so they can be fat. I thought that was funny.
But, really, who cares why they are fat?!?!? Where in the Constitution does it say my taxes can be spent for this foolishness?!?!?
Two words: General Welfare. You know: The “all-encompassing” clause.
“General welfare” has to do with what is good for the entire nation, and a study about fat lesbians is not good for anyone but those who did the study – they got rich.
I need me a new pair of shoes. General Welfare!
$1.5 million is a waste of money.
And, what about hundreds of billions on war on Iraq? Who got rich?
ISU,
Whether or not one agrees with the war, at least it is covered by Constitutional spending. The study is NOT. And the study is absolutely worthless.
Isu,
Are you saying it’s okay to spend $1.5 million to research lesbian obesity because billions were spent on the War in Iraq?
Is there a connection I’m missing? Are obese lesbians prevalent in Iraq or did they eat Iraq or what? Your allusion to Iraq lacks any sort of relevance in this discussion.
But I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you’re trying to justify this spending by bringing up something the last president “wasted” money on, as if two wrongs make a right. And aside from that, your informal fallacy is petitio principii.
TerranceH
That’s a wild and wrong guess.
My point is: are you straining out a gnat but swallowing a camel?
The saddest is the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which should focus on something like autism, though as Christians we know where are hope really lies.
Zanspence
You’re right, there are efforts which could be made which actually make a difference in a real sense. When thinking of the breakthroughs which could be made either studying why lesbians are obese, or what causes autism, which would be better served with grant monies?
Yes. Nice use of Matthew, Isu.
But you still haven’t addressed the fallacy…
TerranceH
“But you still haven’t addressed the fallacy…”
I said your wild guess was wrong.
The fallacy you guess I made is only a wrong guess not a fact.
It seems to me, Isu, that you were assuming the initial point. Specifically, you expect people to agree that the War in Iraq was a big waste of money. That’s actually what you said – that it was a waste of money. You have’t given us any reason to believe this.
Glenn,
The issue is not wether the speding is covered by Constitution or not.
Isu,
To me, the FIRST thing for ANY expenditure is whether it is Constitutionally authorized. THEN we can decide whether it was useful. Since this is an unconstitutional expenditure, it is immediately declared wrong legally. Nevertheless, it is still a horrendous waste of money because it accomplished nothing, and was strictly part of an agenda.