More Fun with Steve Cohen

TN-9 Congressman posted the following link on his Facebook page on Thursday, March 3, 2011.



He’s trying to paint Republicans as giving a death sentence to those with cancer and other catastrophic illness because their budget cuts $2 billion dollars from the NIH.

Following are the comments:

Supporter #1: “The GOP notion of cutting NIH funding is BRAINLESS!!!
Don't they want the US to be at the forefront of science which will help people and lead to more JOBS?”

Me: “It's NOT the government's job to fund any kind of research. As a mother with a child in renal failure, I am not looking to the government for a cure. We could solve the budget crisis easily if we returned to Constitutional government; national security being it's primary JOB.”

Supporter #2: “The republicans have an agenda and yours and the nations needs to not apply. If the Democrats don't stand together as one we will have to wait sometime before the nightmare will be over.”

Me: “‎@Supporter #2; like the Democrats don't have an agenda. They rammed hellcare thru against the wishes of the people, they spent taxpayers money like it grew on trees and how many 2000+ bills did they ram thru w/o reading, regardless of what the consequences were to the American people. All they want is power, control and bigger government. The last 2 yrs have been a nightmare for all those that are unemployed because of the policies of leftists like Mr. Cohen.”

Supporter #2: “TN WAHM your one of those special people who live in lala land. Do you still have your silver spoon?”

Supporter #3: First,” TN WAHM, I wish nothing but the best for you and your child.

Now, here's the thing: All the people who opposed Health Care Reform said that our health care system is the envy of the world.

But all those innovations that made it that way... are the direct result of government-funded research. The private sector has proven time and time again that it has neither the resources nor the will to sink serious research efforts into catastrophic disease.

Every advance that we make towards conquering catastrophic disease, be it cancer, HIV/ AIDS, juvenile diabetes, happens directly or indirectly through the work of the federal government.

Once, a cancer diagnosis was a death sentence. All the progress that we've made in beating it came directly or indirectly from government research.

When a pharmaceutical manufacturer develops a new medicine, they are building upon research that was funded by our government.

In a perfect world, the private sector would drive innovation. We don't live in that perfect world. If the government does not fund research, which is often conducted right her in Memphis at St. Jude and UT Health Science Center, the research does not get done.

When we reach that point where cancer is cured routinely, it will be because the NIH did the heavy lifting and provided organizations such as St. Jude and UTHSC with the means to conduct research, as well as their own in house research.”

Me: “@ Supporter #2, no silver spoon, I'm working middle class, but I know economics and I'm not jealous of the rich.

@ Supporter #3, obviously you believe that government is the solution to every problem. What did we do before all this government interference? How did America come from a poor 3rd world country in 1787 to become one of the richest countries in 1920? It wasn't because of Dept of Ed, Dept of Energy or HUD. If you cut out the entire defense budget ~which is the main job of the federal government~ you would only cut the deficit by a 1/3. From 1787-1920, the federal budget never exceeded 3% of the GDP except during times of war. Today the federal spending is 25% of the GDP. And for the record, I hold Repubs as well as Dems responsible for this. Repubs spent too much during the Bush administration, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to what the Dems spent since 2007 when they controlled the purse strings of Congress.

"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign invaders." -Samuel Adams”

Supporter #3: “Not every problem, but at the very least, THIS problem. The private sector does not drive medical research. If we do not fund it, it does not get done. The modern medical industry answers to its shareholders, not humanity. It's the reason there are more new patents for curing baldness and restless leg syndrome than curing actual disease.

The amount the Republicans want to cut from the NIH, $2.5 billion, is roughly the equivalent of 35 days in Iraq.

The debt explosion you talk of? That debt was there all along. The key difference is that the Obama administration makes Iraq & Afghanistan part of its budget (And thereby, part of the debt), while the Bush administration tracked it off budget. It's like saying your house note isn't part of your personal debt. It was an irresponsible sleight of hand designed to make the already bloated Bush deficits look smaller. His administration had a bad habit of doing things like that. His Council of Economic Advisers actually recommended reclassifying hamburgers as durable goods so they could make McJobs look like a thriving manufacturing sector.”

Me: “@Supporter #3, do you work for the NIH or the federal government?

You keep saying that w/o government there wouldn’t be any medical innovations and research. Just because you keep saying it doesn’t mean it’s so.

“Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?” Milton Friedman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A

You sight the Iraq war, but even if we eliminated all defense spending, our deficit would only be cut by 1/3; and national defense is the main job of the federal government.

When was the last time the federal government had a balanced budget? The answer: 1957. http://www.geldpress.com/2008/07/us-budget-reporting-deception/
Unless I’m mistaken, George Bush wasn’t president in 1957.”