5/04/2009

Dr. Specter Is In The House

Yesterday on Face The Nation, Senator (and apparently Dr.) Arlen Specter shared his medical expertise with the world, stating the following: "And one of the items that I'm working on, Bob, is funding for medical research. If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine."

I would ask the good doctor what country has made more progress in the battle against cancer in the last 39 years? Take a peak at this list of cancer drugs, nearly all of which have been approved since 1970. And all without the benefit of the wise council of centralized planning that Dr. Specter apparently thinks would have saved Jack Kemp's life. If Specter wants to encourage funding for medical research, he should work to avoid the dampening effect on funding that will result from nationalizing health care.