Posted on 08/13/2009 2:46:47 PM PDT by traumer
President Obama's nominee for surgeon general, whose job it is to help encourage Americans to get thinner and healthier, has been working part time as a scientific adviser to the fast-food giant that sells sandwiches like the Whopper and BK Triple Stacker.
Dr. Regina Benjamin, hailed by Mr. Obama for her efforts in running a health clinic in hurricane-ravaged rural Alabama, has been paid $10,000 since last year for serving on a scientific advisory board for Burger King, according to newly filed public financial disclosures.
The documents do not specify the scientific issues on which Dr. Benjamin advised the fast-food company, and her medical office in Bayou La Batre, Ala., declined a request for an interview. Burger King officials said Dr. Benjamin served on the company's nutritional advisory panel, formed last summer as part of "ongoing efforts to promote balanced diets and active lifestyle choices."
The Edelman public relations firm, hired by Burger King, recommended Dr. Benjamin and other specialists to serve on the panel, an Edelman spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Vicki Rivas-Vazquez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said Dr. Benjamin would resign her position from Burger King upon confirmation by the Senate. She also said Dr. Benjamin would recuse herself from any specific party matters involving Burger King for the next two years as part of the Obama administration's ethics pledge.
"As the nation's leading spokesperson on public health, she will continue to promote healthy eating and exercise," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Mmmm....*Six Dollar Burger*..mmmm...
OK, so we have the extra-large Surgeon General-to-be advising Burger King. Meanwhile, Obama and Biden are photographed chowing down at a 5 Guys burger joint. And Michelle Obama admits she likes to sneak out of the White House for a burger, plus she takes the kids out for burgers.
None, and I mean NONE of these jokers had better start lecturing us about our eating habits.
(Do the Obamas own stock in these places? Do they play cattle futures?)
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