Specter Is A True Democrat

Specter decided he would follow in the footsteps of democrats like Joe Biden, Obama, and Kerry and say something really stupid on national TV. I think it is a requirement to be in the Democratic party. If you are unable to stay stupid stuff you are not allowed! Now if Specter were still a RINO he would have been blasted by everyone in the media.

Jack Kemp would still be alive if the federal government had done a better job funding cancer research, Sen. Arlen Specter said Sunday, one day after Kemp, the 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee and former congressman, died of cancer.

The Pennsylvania senator, who last week switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, made the claim on two Sunday shows.

On CBS' "Face the Nation," Specter suggested that one of the reasons he left the GOP was because it did not share his interest in funding medical research.

"Frankly, I was disappointed that the Republican Party didn't want me as their candidate. But as a matter of principle, I'm becoming much more comfortable with the Democrats' approach," Specter said. "And one of the items that I'm working on ... is funding for medical research. I've been the spear carrier to increase medical research."

Specter added: "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."

Specter has been treated for Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Through his Web site, specterforthecure.com, the senator has called for more federal resources and funding to be directed toward medical research.

Specter on Sunday touted his record of increasing funding for research for the National Institutes of Health. His Web site details the strides he's made -- "doubling the nation's health research budget" and helping include funding for the NIH in the stimulus bill.

But his claims about Nixon's "war on cancer" and Kemp, the former Buffalo Bills MVP who died of an undisclosed cancer after a lengthy illness, raised eyebrows -- since the government has devoted billions to cancer research since Nixon's call in 1971 for a campaign to find a cancer cure.

The National Cancer Institute had a $4.8 billion budget in fiscal 2008. Since the early '70s, the National Cancer Institute's budgets have totaled more than $80 billion, according to historical budget statistics.

"We are spending more money on cancer research -- public and private -- than President Nixon ever dreamed," said one column critical of Specter's comments on The American Thinker blog.

In a statement to FOXNews.com, the American Cancer Society's chief medical officer said there's "room for more progress" but noted the achievements researchers have made in past decades in the areas of cancer prevention and treatment.

Courtesy of www.foxnews.com