By Lisa Neff on Wisconsin Gazette

In response to the resignation of U.S. Center for Disease Control director Brenda Fitzgerald, Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, issued this statement:

Dr. Fitzgerald’s resignation is shocking — not because of the extent of the conflicts of interest she was facing, but because she was actually held accountable for them.

In the first few weeks of running the CDC, she invested money in tobacco and drug companies with the knowledge that she could increase the profits of those companies greatly, but she isn’t alone in attempting to profit off her position in the government.

In the past year, the Trump administration and Congress have dramatically and deliberately shifted the government’s focus from maximizing the well-being of the people of this country to maximizing the profits of private business, and many at the highest levels of government are getting rich in the process.

Fitzgerald’s actions are unexceptional in this climate of corruption.

There are countless members of Congress and high-ranking officials in the administration who stand to earn a windfall from the GOP tax bill in coming years, to say nothing of the high-paying lobbying jobs many of them have earned through their support for corporate tax cuts.

From taxes to healthcare to environmental protection, corporate profits and self-interest come first for our government officials, and they should all be held as accountable as Dr. Fitzgerald.

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