Scott Evertz, newly appointed head of White Office AIDS Policy Office		Openly Gay Man to Lead White House AIDS Policy Office... This is News? April 09, 2001 Today's headlines and lead stories read: "President Bush has chosen Scott Evertz, an openly gay Wisconsin man, to direct his administration's policies on AIDS, the White House announced...". While the appointment itself is made out to be a landmark in Republican policy, an examination of events beneath the surface is in order. I had not intended this site to contain much editorial content, but the much bigger story behind today's White House announcement has a considerable impact on the cause for which I've joined the AIDSRide. Let parallel facts speak for themselves: Bush has frozen spending for the White House Office of National AIDS Policy in his recent budget announcement. In response to the criticism this drew, Bush announced that he would elevate the office's policy coordinating scope to include international HIV/AIDS efforts. Let's put things in perspective. If this were an issue pertinent to your job, it would be like your boss telling you that you won't be making a cent more this year, yet you'll have to do about 100 times more work -- as if you weren't overworked and underpaid enough last year to begin with. Sure, it's courageous to open up American AIDS Policy to recognize the broad, global issues of the pandemic in stark contrast to the Bush administration's repeated emphasis on domestic matters above all. But it's equally irresponsible to open up these channels a time when increased domestic needs for AIDS research and relief won't receive any more support from the federal government. The repercussions of the cuts to the White House AIDS Policy office will invariably place an increased burden on independent AIDS organizations around the country, including those supported by the AIDSRide events. Various sources indicate there are over 40,000 new cases of HIV each year in the United States alone. Related links: Yahoo! News CNN.com White House ONAP Log Cabin Republicans
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