The American public has overwhelming confidence in the progress being made in the research and development of treatments to fight cancer, translating into vast support of the Obama administration's proposal to increase funding for cancer research under the cancer "moonshot" initiative, according to Stat News.
A Recent Stat-Harvard poll found more than eight out of 10 Americans support at least a 20 percent increase in federal spending for cancer research, the amount President Barack Obama proposed for the cancer moonshot. Almost half — 46 percent — said the funding increase is "about right," and 37 percent said it is not enough, according to the report.
Support for the initiative is largely bipartisan: 90 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Republicans indicated support for at least a 20 percent increase in federal support for cancer research.
However, Democrats and Republicans have differing views on how exactly that money should be channeled.
President Obama has requested the 20 percent bump, or additional $755 million increase, come from an automatic funding stream called "mandatory spending," but Republicans say that would enable him to evade the spending limits mandated by federal law. They want to instead give Congress more control in determining where the funding comes from, according to the report.