Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn't want Americans to think of him as an antivaccine conspiracy theorist as he seeks confirmation as President-elect Donald Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services — rather, he wants to be thought of as a guy who wants to end corporate poisoning of the environment, "Make America Healthy Again" and get people off processed foods.
The trouble is, Catherine Rampell wrote for The Washington Post, he'll be working under the administration of a party that has spent years methodically undermining all the programs and laws that make those things possible for lower-income Americans.
Fundamentally, she wrote, Kennedy isn't interested in expanding access to health care or protecting the Affordable Care Act. "That’s not in Donald Trump’s agenda. Rather, Kennedy plans to undermine trust in childhood vaccines (or perhaps revoke their approvals); fire medical researchers and drug regulators; and encourage Americans to consume 'healthier' foods (such as raw milk, bird flu be damned)." And many GOP senators have echoed these ideas.
But there's a more fundamental problem, even beyond the fact that rejecting vaccination or pasteurization will damage public health — GOP senators have actively voted against any policies designed to enable healthier lifestyles.
For instance, wrote Rampell, "last congressional session, House Republicans tried to slash funding for a nutritional program for low-income moms and babies ... And now, to pay for their proposed tax cuts, Republicans are seeking to slash food stamps. Tax cuts for the rich, funded by hunger for the poor."
Meanwhile, Trump's proposed tariffs on Mexico "presumably include all the Mexican tomatoes, avocados, raspberries and other fresh produce Americans buy. His mass deportation plans would also hollow out the (largely undocumented) workforce that grows crops here in the United States. And Trump’s advisers want to dismantle the visa program that allows immigrant agricultural workers to come here legally" — all of which would make healthy food pricier.
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What about removing toxins from the environment? Well, Rampell noted, "the first Trump administration relaxed toxic-waste rules for coal plants, allowing them to dump more arsenic, lead and mercury into public waterways and more fine particulate matter into the air. Trump also opened the door for a comeback in asbestos, a known carcinogen, in manufacturing. And he helped chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to pediatric brain damage, stay on the market." And then, they've also fought efforts to regulate guns as a public safety hazard, even as they have caused tens of thousands of deaths a year, she wrote.
Ultimately, Rampell wrote, RFK and his defenders do have a real point buried under their conspiracy theories: "Health outcomes are related to economic, cultural and environmental factors. Doctors and researchers call these 'social determinants of health.' They include adequate nutrition; financial security; safe, stable housing; and clean air and water." However, she added, "these are not the kinds of proposals Republicans are pursuing. Quite the opposite."