Say what you like about NASCAR fans, but are they actually a public health threat?

Here's a nice example of the misplaced priorities and skewed world view of the new leadership in the House. Does going to a NASCAR race pose as much danger as a visit to a third-world country? Apparently some of those Dem leaders who never get out from behind the Beltway think so. It was reported that before going on a "fact-finding trip about health preparedness at mass gatherings'' to races at Talladega Superspeedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway, congressional aides were told to get immunizations for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria and influenza.

"I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and as the representative for Concord, N.C., I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown," Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC), said in an Oct. 5 letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the Homeland Security panel. "I have been to numerous NASCAR races, and the folks who attend these events certainly do not pose any health hazard to congressional staffers or anyone else," Hayes added.

"Since committee staff members are visiting hospital and other health-care facilities available at or near these venues, including areas where groups of people are detained before being transferred to other off-site facilities, I believe that the recommendation (not requirement) that our congressional staff receive these same immunizations was sound," Thompson said in a letter responding to Hayes issued Wednesday.

Read the complete story here.

Maybe congressional staffers on the Dem side should do more pre-trip research than simply watching Talladega Nights?