You don't need to be a bleeding heart liberal, or even someone who cares much about the public good, to embrace these programs — you just need put aside politics and look at the numbers. The returns that these programs deliver would make a hedge fund manager salivate. According to the American Public Health Association, every dollar spent on vaccines saves $16.50 in future health care costs. A study by the non-partisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation demonstrated that reducing nationwide obesity rates by 5 percent could save almost $30 billion in five years. Another study by the Economic Policy Institute has shown that each $1 spent on lead poisoning prevention returns at least $17.