{"id":2253611,"date":"2024-05-27T00:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T04:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-federal-clawback-clause-would-ensure-we-never-get-another-fauci-collins-or-walensky\/"},"modified":"2024-05-27T00:16:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T04:16:46","slug":"a-federal-clawback-clause-would-ensure-we-never-get-another-fauci-collins-or-walensky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-federal-clawback-clause-would-ensure-we-never-get-another-fauci-collins-or-walensky\/","title":{"rendered":"A Federal &#8216;Recovery Provision&#8217; Can Prevent Another Fauci, Collins, or Walensky Scenario"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-federal-clawback-clause-would-ensure-we-never-get-another-fauci-collins-or-walensky%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2253611&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former director of the\u2062 National Institutes of Health,\u200b Dr. Francis Collins, has been \u2063critiqued for his lack of seriousness\u200b during the pandemic. His parody of Simon and Garfunkel\u2019s song \u200bas a pandemic-themed skit led to\u2063 increased scrutiny about him and his colleagues&#8217; handling of the pandemic. Some suggest implementing &#8220;clawback&#8221; clauses in \u200dofficials&#8217; contracts to ensure accountability for policy decisions. This comes as a recent \u2064revelation that \u2062Collins admitted there was no scientific evidence to support the six<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fauci-discussed-mandates-and-lab-leak-hypothesis-in-second-day-of-interviews-gop-says\/\" title=\"Fauci talks mandates and lab leak theory in second round of interviews, GOP claims\">-foot social distancing guideline<\/a>. In addition, while criticisms about colleagues such as Dr. Anthony \u200bFauci are abundant, Collins has somehow escaped significant attention. Activists propose that officials \u2064like Collins, Fauci, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky be held accountable \u200cfor policy blunders \u200dthat have significantly impacted the public and the education system. Critics argue that guidelines set by \u200cthese officials let politics drive public health policies rather \u2063than scientific evidence. The \u200binsinuations suggest that these representatives managed to safeguard their interests while the\u2063 general public\u200c suffered, thus calling for a stricter system \u200bof accountability.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, reprised his parodied musical act for a second time to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MegEBrock\/status\/1793272149664313813\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">serenade<\/a> Yale School of Medicine graduates, reciting a version of Simon and Garfunkel\u2019s \u201cSound of Silence\u201d with pandemic-themed lyrics. While the act garnered laughs from the crowd, it further codified the lack of seriousness and responsibility public health officials have expressed while toying with the American public, through unfounded and baseless Covid-19 policy decisions.  <\/p>\n<p>While these unelected policy officials go unchecked, one way to hold people like Collins accountable is through implementing \u201cclawback\u201d clauses in employment contracts. By \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.investopedia.com\/terms\/c\/clawback.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">definition<\/a>,\u202f the clauses are \u201ca contractual provision whereby\u202fmoney already paid to an employee must be returned to an employer or\u202fbenefactor, sometimes with a penalty, [due to] misconduct, scandals, poor performance, or a drop in company profits.\u201d Following the 2008 financial crisis, private companies, especially banks, incorporated clawbacks in employment contracts for senior executives to help \u201crestore the confidence and faith of investors and the public.\u201d In the post-Covid-19 era, we must implement a\u00a0similar structure to hold public officials accountable for the harm caused by their actions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2079349832\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6ca04f144e2ac023d6512379be345fce fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6ca04f144e2ac023d6512379be345fce\"><\/div>\n<p>Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of\u00a0the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, the American public learned this month that Collins finally\u202f <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2024.05.16-SSCP-Staff-Memo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">admitted in<\/a>\u202f a congressional testimony that there was no scientific evidence and data to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s six-foot social-distance guideline. Collins\u2019 admission came several months after his former pal at NIH, Anthony Fauci, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/01\/10\/news\/fauci-admits-to-congress-that-certain-covid-social-distancing-guidelines-lacked-scientific-basis-sort-of-just-appeared\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u202fconceded<\/a> \u202fin his testimony to the same House subcommittee that the six-foot social-distance rule \u201csort of just appeared\u201d without scientific input. Plenty has been written about Fauci\u2019s disgraceful role during the Covid-19 pandemic (see \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/03\/useful-idiots-in-the-west-helped-the-ccp-cover-up-the-worst-scientific-scandal-of-our-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/america-will-be-in-lockdown-as-long-as-dr-fauci-is-a-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u202fhere<\/a>, and \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/14\/dr-faucis-emails-tell-the-story-of-panic-lies-and-a-possible-cover-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>). However,\u202f not enough spotlight was shone\u202fon Collins until recently.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Vinay Prasad \u202fis a hematologist-oncologist and professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California San Francisco. He has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. government\u2019s Covid-19 response early on. In a recent \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/7dacd2a7-065c-45b6-9af0-233a89dac98c?j=eyJ1IjoiMms0eWMifQ.emZXELHd2hmqNjMtvRH69b824SQAw-K668KDL22FsRw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video on<\/a> \u202fhis YouTube channel, Prasad reminded the public that in August 2020, Collins produced his first music video rendition of himself playing the guitar and singing to the tune of \u201cPuff, the Magic Dragon\u201d with lyrics including, \u201cNo one can travel or leave their houses, schools are closed, and all kids must know to avoid the danger zones. We all must do our part to protect the ones we love. So if you meet at least six feet, handle doors with gloves.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Diane Baker, the woman who played the red dragon in Collins\u2019 music video, did not wear a\u202f mask or keep a six-foot social distance from Collins. One profound lesson the public learned from the pandemic was that the ruling class\u00a0always exempts themselves from the horrendous and ludicrous rules they demanded the public follow.  <\/p>\n<p>Collins\u2019 video is <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/cfddef25-fbb1-46c3-9736-33426793f760?j=eyJ1IjoiMms0eWMifQ.emZXELHd2hmqNjMtvRH69b824SQAw-K668KDL22FsRw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">still on the NIH\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>. Prasad commented about it incredulously, \u201cThis is what the NIH director was doing. When he was at the center of policies that would affect the generation in unprecedented ways \u2026 Instead of studying the evidence \u2026 having a debate and dialogue, he was busy writing a godd-mn stupid song\u201d to promote the disinformation of the six-foot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/england-eases-restrictions-boris-johnson-says-hugs-should-be-given-using-common-sense\/\" title=\"England Eases Restrictions, Boris Johnson Says Hugs Should Be Given Using Common Sense\">social-distancing rule<\/a>. The American public should be as outraged as Prasad.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bc8e7f5936d3c287b37dafa7303c0505 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bc8e7f5936d3c287b37dafa7303c0505\"><\/div>\n<p>Besides amplifying his musical hobby during the coronavirus panic, Collins joined Fauci to suppress scientific debates about the government\u2019s Covid-19 measures and the lab-leak theory of Covid origin. Three prominent scientists, Harvard\u2019s\u202f Martin Kulldorff, Oxford\u2019s Sunetra Gupta, and Stanford\u2019s\u202f Jay Bhattacharya released the\u202f <a href=\"https:\/\/gbdeclaration.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Great Barrington Declaration<\/a>, calling for governments to implement \u201cfocused protection\u201d of the high-risk population rather than continuing the widespread lockdowns. Collins \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/fauci-collins-emails-great-barrington-declaration-covid-pandemic-lockdown-11640129116\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">referred to<\/a> \u202fthe three coauthors as \u201cfringe scientists\u201d and demanded \u201ca quick and devastating published take down.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Even in 2021, when \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/health.wusf.usf.edu\/health-news-florida\/2022-02-02\/a-johns-hopkins-study-says-ill-founded-lockdowns-did-little-to-limit-covid-deaths\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the harm of blanket lockdowns and school closures became indisputable<\/a>, Collins refused to apologize for his policy failures. Instead, he \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/outgoing-nih-director-says-hundreds-of-thousands-would-have-died-from-covid-if-us-hadnt-listened-to-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">continued to spread the misinformation<\/a>\u202f that \u201chundreds of thousands of people would have died if we had followed that strategy [focused protection].\u201d He neglected to mention how many Americans died during the lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-ex-trump-official-warns-delta-variant-really-is-different-the-unvaccinated-are-going-to-get-it\/\" title=\"Top Ex-Trump Official Warns: Delta Variant Really Is Different, The Unvaccinated Are \u2018Going To Get It\u2019\">senior public health official<\/a> who continued to promote the social-distancing rule, despite its lack of evidence, was CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. In early 2021, Prasad co-authored and published an op-ed \u202f\u201cpointing out that the six-foot\u00a0distance had no scientific basis and would keep kids out of school for six\u00a0more months.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Recently uncovered emails from Fauci \u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VPrasadMDMPH\/status\/1791993719887216869\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">showed<\/a> that he forwarded Prasad\u2019s op-ed to Walensky in February 2021. Walensky\u2019s CDC continued to extend the social distancing rule and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2022\/mar\/30\/republican-report-shows-teachers-unions-helped-cdc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked closely with teachers unions<\/a> to set\u202f guidelines for when and how schools should reopen, disregarding Prasad\u2019s research. The CDC let politics, not science, drive public health policies. Its guidelines prolonged school closure, resulting in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/01\/11\/thanks-to-needless-covid-school-lockdowns-your-kids-lifetime-earning-potential-plummeted\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">widespread learning loss<\/a> among American children, with some potentially\u00a0suffering <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/01\/11\/thanks-to-needless-covid-school-lockdowns-your-kids-lifetime-earning-potential-plummeted\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">long-term economic losses<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-984020297c619bec7ea8013f4010be31 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-984020297c619bec7ea8013f4010be31\"><\/div>\n<p>However, Fauci, Collins, and Walensky do not have to worry about themselves suffering any economic loss. Collins made nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/04\/24\/cdc-director-salary-double-predecessor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$200,000<\/a> a year as NIH director before retiring in 2021. Fauci was the <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/dr-anthony-fauci-paid-more-130000506.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">highest-paid federal government employee<\/a> at the NIH, making almost half a million dollars annually. He retired at the end of 2022. It is reasonable to assume Collins and Fauci have accumulated sizable pensions courtesy of American taxpayers. Walensky likely also made around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/to-your-health\/wp\/2018\/04\/27\/top-democratic-senator-questions-cdc-directors-375000-salary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$200,000<\/a> a year as the director of the CDC. She stepped down in 2023 and took a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DorisDukeFdn\/status\/1787829883801940074\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cushy position<\/a> on the Doris Duke Foundation board of trustees. Rest assured Walensky isn\u2019t in a poor house either.<\/p>\n<p>These three senior public health officials promoted Covid measures supported by little scientific data that caused massive damage to the \u202fAmerican economy and \u202fthe \u202fAmerican people, leveraged their influential positions to spread misinformation and silence scientific debates, and eroded public trust in science and public health. We may not be able to hold them accountable. However, to restore public faith and trust in science and public health, we must demand that a clawback clause be added to senior public officials\u2019 employment contracts going forward. <\/p>\n<p>Those officials who lie to the American people and whose policies cause significant damage to American society must return at least part of their pay or retirement benefits funded by taxpayers to compensate for their blunders. The clawback clause is taxpayers\u2019 only insurance policy to ensure that the political ruling class\u00a0and the public indeed \u201care all in it together when the next national crisis occurs.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0fc9285661ac55a32d1644ab7516584a fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0fc9285661ac55a32d1644ab7516584a\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins performed a parodied rendition of Simon and Garfunkel&#8217;s &#8220;Sound of Silence&#8221;, customizing the lyrics with pandemic themes for Yale Medical School graduates. His act, eliciting chuckles, reinforced concerns about his casual approach towards serious matters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":536,"featured_media":2253612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Francis-Collins-NIH-Speech.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2253611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Francis-Collins-NIH-Speech.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2253611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2253612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2253611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2253611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2253611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}