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For Sunday: Bush proposes to cut National Cancer Institute funding

As the nation's attention has been fixed on the cancer cases of two high-profile individuals, Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow, a troubling bit of info has seeped out:

President George Bush's proposed 2008 fiscal year budget calls for an estimated $11 million reduction in funding for the National Cancer Institute, the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and training.

Granted, the cut represents a small portion of the $4.78 billion Bush has earmarked for NCI in his proposed spending plan. But he makes this baffling proposal as the number of new cancer cases in inching upward, from 1,334,100 in 2003 to 1,399,7790 in 2006, according to the American Cancer Society. That number is expected to reach 1,444,920 this year.

Now certainly is not the time to reduce funding for cancer research.

Comments

# 1

[March 29, 2007 4:08 PM]

Josh

But here's the part the editorial staff conveniently leaves out.

In previous years, Institutes and Centers contributed a uniform percentage of their appropriations to the Common Fund. Since NCI no longer has to contribute to the Common Fund, the Institute will effectively receive an increase of $46 million.

But, alas, that small detail doesn't fit the template you want for Bush, does it?

# 2

[March 29, 2007 6:13 PM]

JohnS

Josh, you're not supposed to use math selectively.

JS

# 3

[March 30, 2007 11:34 AM]

BUD

It would seem that if what JOSH says is true, the editorial board has distorted a Bush Admin. policy. Is it ignorance or a deliberate lie?... someone's got some splaining to do.

# 4

[March 30, 2007 12:50 PM]

MarkO

In a snap shot of congress and Bush's appropriations go to this site: Friends of Cancer Research

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Recent comments

  • In a snap shot of congress and Bush's appropriations go to this site: Friends of ...more - MarkO
  • It would seem that if what JOSH says is true, the editorial board has distorted ...more - BUD
  • Josh, you're not supposed to use math selectively. JSmore - JohnS
  • But here's the part the editorial staff conveniently leaves out. In previous years, Institutes and ...more - Josh

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