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Are we spending enough on cancer research?

Browsing through the Mantle Cell Lymphoma message board today, something I still do on a mostly daily basis, I was directed to this article in Newsweek magazine, by Jonathan Alter, an award winning columnist, frequent TV analyst, and a Mantle Cell Lymphoma survivor.

In the article, Alter talks about the relationship between Ted Kennedy, and his bout with cancer, and that of Hamilton Jordan, who recently died of cancer, and the goings on in congress today.
 
It's a short article and worth reading, but of particular note, was something Hamilton Jordan said to Jonathan Alter, that I think really puts the whole cancer funding, and health care issues in perspective.
...we [the United States] spend more in six months in Iraq ($54 billion) than we've spent in 30 years on the National Cancer Institute, which funds most cancer research. Today, only two in 10 grant proposals from qualified researchers are funded by the NCI, which means that plenty of possible cures die for lack of funding.
And then I think about the path John McCain, and the rest of the Republican party is envisioning for this country, and wonder, just where are our priorities?

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