Staff Reports
President Biden and his wife, Jill, are set to take the stage in New Orleans to promote the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and their ambitious plans to tackle cancer. One might wonder if this is the start of a new moonshot or just another chance to throw taxpayer money at a project and see what sticks. After all, $150 million sure sounds like a great way to throw a big party for a handful of researchers who may or may not have actual results to show for all their spending.
The event, dubbed the Biden Cancer Moonshot, suggests a romantic venture into uncharted territories of health care, but many are left wondering if this is more about puffery than pioneering. With eight teams allegedly set to receive this windfall, questions abound about who exactly these teams are and how they got their golden ticket. Could there possibly be a surface-level vetting process at play? It’s not like political connections could play a role in deciding who gets to cash in.
President Joe Biden is traveling to Boston where he will deliver a speech on the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. His administration is aiming to halve the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. pic.twitter.com/ZJQiqRQ5F8
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 12, 2022
As the Bidens make their rounds at local medical facilities, it’s hard not to imagine the photo ops being front and center in their plans. Nothing quite says “I’m a president who cares” like a staged tour of hospitals, especially one that might lead to headlines glorifying the efforts of the administration while dodging criticism for their track record. It would be a remarkable achievement if only the president could cure his party’s inflation woes as well as he hopes to cure cancer.
It’s also worth noting that this announcement comes at a time when voters are anxious about health care costs skyrocketing. The irony of a grand investment in cancer research while the average American feels like they’re being squeezed at every turn cannot be lost on anyone. One can almost hear the collective sigh of the electorate as they struggle to pay for essentials while the government pours money into promising initiatives that might not necessarily benefit them directly.
In the end, the Biden Cancer Moonshot may serve as a nice distraction from pressing economic issues and dismal approval ratings. If the president really wants to guarantee a true moonshot regarding cancer, perhaps he could start by addressing the real concerns affecting ordinary Americans instead of just cycling through symbolic gestures that do little beyond filling his calendar with good PR.
