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deceit coming from the government. We want a government that has the best interests of the public as their number one priority. We want a government that cares about all of the people, not just the rich, not just the Republicans, not just the friends of the administration.

Every day Americans struggle with cancer. Every day scientists work feverishly to find a cure for cancer. Americans need to know that the work of the scientists is not being withheld and instead it is being analyzed and used to help speed new discoveries and cures. America is a land of brilliant minds and incredible technology. We need a government that utilizes our scientists to the utmost degree. Instead too often we have a government that blocks federal funding for medical research, that spins every fact they release to the public about medical issues, and that does not have any concern at all for being truthful.

The government has lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The government lied about the friendly fire death of Pat Tillman in the American Army in Iraq. The government outed the name of Valerie Plame and risked her life and the lives of her family. The American public has seen too many instances of the government being deceitful and corrupt to want them to also have the chance to taint the results of our federally funded medical studies.

I once attended a medical convention about cancer and saw young doctors studying oncology saying that they wanted to go into research but instead were forced to go into clinical work because the federal funding for cancer research programs was drying up. There was a long line of doctors standing in the middle of a vast sea of doctors waiting for their spot at the microphone to talk about this issue. This was at a time when my Grandfather had already died of cancer and my Mother was diagnosed with it. I practically started crying when I saw how upset the doctors were at our government's failure to provide adequate federal funding for cancer research.

Cancer is a plague in America. Many Americans will be faced with cancer at some point in their life. Thus research and open analysis of the scientific findings is crucially important to each and every American. Statistically all of us will either have cancer or will have a close relative diagnosed with it.

Our government needs to spend more money on medical research. It needs to allow open inspection of the results of federal scientific studies. Our government must make healthcare a priority. Too many Americans do not have health insurance. Too many Americans, particularly the elderly, cannot afford their drug prescriptions. Our nation needs to rethink how medicine is handled in America. We need more research, more open policy on results and to develop a national healthcare plan so equal medical care is available to all.

We cannot trust the government to do the right thing when the issue is as important as federally funded scientific research. We must have a new President who supports a policy of enabling all to analyze the results to federally funded scientific research. We must have a President who is able fund federal medical research and who is able to help scientists use their knowledge to find cures to diseases and share their results with the world.

Learn more about this author, Julia Beirut.
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