This legislation is personal to my family and we thank you for your continued attention to this specific legislative process. And your obvious commitment to making sure we all stay informed.
Sam, thank you for your dogged pursuit of the story behind the passage of the Pediatric Cancer Bill. It is absolutely mind boggling that the GOP required offsets in funding for the Departments of Ed, Labor and NPR to release the “pennies” for cancer research funding they were holding hostage!! All while funding DHS’s terrorizing of American citizens and legal residents to the tune of well over $100 billion.
Thanks to Sam for pointing out the need to pass legislation like this but also the long and sometimes messy process it takes to do it. It also highlights the lack of effective legislating that is all common in DC now. In the past stand alone, common sense bills such as this were brought to the floor for a vote but now with the highly politicized nature of everything no one wants to vote on anything that isn't perfect. This had led to huge bills that take on lives of themselves and get names. It might be a novel idea but getting back to passing many smaller bills like this and not relying large ones that contain everything but the kitchen sink.
Heartbreaking that it took so much time and effort by ill kids and parents who have experienced the loss of a child. I applauded them all. Congress should be ashamed of themselves. Those who don't want to displease Trump and those that let the "perfect outcome stop a good outcome". Thank you, Sam, for sharing this update with us.
Thank you for the article you wrote last year Sam that introduced us to this legislation. Or maybe it was a video. Your passion was contagious - it was clear this bill was important to you and it became important to us. I don't share much of the Bulwark on my fb feed but I shared this. And I wrote about what you explained last December. Thank you again.
Thanks for your your opinion. In my opinion it was healthy and good to call out Sanders, if for nothing else but to illustrate how demanding perfection can be the enemy of the good. We were lucky that there was something that came up again so so that the bill could be attached to.
Great job, Sam. Thanks for this informative, instructive piece. A welcome break from what has become the new norm in news. Lots of old school inter and intra party log rolling (“sausage making” including Sanders’ early “veto”) no doubt to get your bill passed. There is something in your account that should remind us of the process of governance as it once was. Give and take , not just all take no give. Encourage us to find the way back there.
So that’s how they made the sausage. Interesting to see government actually functioning for a change. Especially interesting to see the Democrats give Mike Johnson the precise number of votes he needed to cancel out the 21 defecting Republicans. This is a huge win for Democrats. Going into negotiations on reining in ICE we hold the face cards, inasmuch as we are happy to just let DHS funding lapse. That’s a powerful “best alternative to a negotiated agreement.” It’s possible the administration may also be looking for a way out of a politically untenable position. Perhaps Minneapolis is our Gettysburg.
"Then, in late December 2024, it was part of a major government funding deal that was suddenly scuttled after Elon Musk threw a tantrum over the inclusion of any new spending provisions."
This sentence is an absolute indictment of our politics. At least Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders are senators. They are accountable to their voters for their decisions, who have empowered them with the ability to object to legislation. But Elon Musk is not an elected official. He is a white supremacist, pedophile-curious, ketamine-addicted man-child with a reputation for genius that is utterly undeserved (the geniuses behind his companies are the engineers and scientists) and enormous delusions of grandeur. He is not accountable to anyone, it seems. And in December 2024, Joe Biden was president. Musk had absolutely no official powers whatsoever.
I'm on the verge of saying we should set aside 1776, despite this year being what it is, and start partying like it's 1793.
In autocratic Czarist Russia, Lenin observed that the liberal elites were too weak to lead a liberal-democratic revolution, necessitating that the (people) proletariat take the lead. Lenin consistently urged the people to trust only in each other, their own strength, and to avoid relying on liberal elites, as they would inevitably fail the people.
"We are weak? That means that we have no revolution, nor can there be one. That is not a revolution of the people, but swindling of the people by a pack of liberal lackeys of the Czar. That is not a struggle for liberty, but a bartering away of the people’s freedom in exchange for parliamentary seats. That is not the beginning of a new life, but perpetuation of the old starvation and drudgery, the old stagnancy, and putrefaction." - Lenin
Thank you for writing this, Sam. It's well written and presented the reality of how hard it can be to get something through our political system at any time, not just during Trump years. But I've been feeling recently like the only possible news until Trump leaves office is going to be horrible news, and it's hard to hang onto the kind of hope that we need to keep joy in our lives. And joy, as a lot of people are noticing lately, is a type of medicine, and a weapon against the dark. So reading this gave me something I really needed today. (Along with watching Rocky Kanaka of Sitting with Dogs save a terrified dog from life and death in a shelter. Two forms of inspiration in one day. Wow.)
Research into children's diseases, cancer included, get a fraction of the funding given towards adult medical research. Cancer is the leading cause of death in children.
This isn't some pork barrel bridge to nowhere. The fact that lawmakers, private organizations, cancer victims and their families poured five years of effort into getting this passed should tell you all you need to know. This many people don't spend this much time and energy on something that isn't needed.
Then you should be in a good position to get and interpret the data. And by the way, that wasn't "advocacy." I simply made the point that people don't work that hard or that long (or shed tears, for that matter) for unnecessary or frivolous legislation. If adequate funding for child cancer research already existed, why would they bother?
This legislation is personal to my family and we thank you for your continued attention to this specific legislative process. And your obvious commitment to making sure we all stay informed.
This one is very personal, thank you for foregrounding with all the other chaos. It took way too long . . .
Thank you, Sam, for this great comprehensive article.🙏
musk is bad for America. Real Americans are the Bulwark. Boycott tesla…Please consider hybrids as an affordable alternative that is also green.
Public access to reliable info is critical for the people to being informed. Not all folks have the internet. This monk supports NPR.
Money talks.
Sam, thank you for your dogged pursuit of the story behind the passage of the Pediatric Cancer Bill. It is absolutely mind boggling that the GOP required offsets in funding for the Departments of Ed, Labor and NPR to release the “pennies” for cancer research funding they were holding hostage!! All while funding DHS’s terrorizing of American citizens and legal residents to the tune of well over $100 billion.
Thanks to Sam for pointing out the need to pass legislation like this but also the long and sometimes messy process it takes to do it. It also highlights the lack of effective legislating that is all common in DC now. In the past stand alone, common sense bills such as this were brought to the floor for a vote but now with the highly politicized nature of everything no one wants to vote on anything that isn't perfect. This had led to huge bills that take on lives of themselves and get names. It might be a novel idea but getting back to passing many smaller bills like this and not relying large ones that contain everything but the kitchen sink.
Heartbreaking that it took so much time and effort by ill kids and parents who have experienced the loss of a child. I applauded them all. Congress should be ashamed of themselves. Those who don't want to displease Trump and those that let the "perfect outcome stop a good outcome". Thank you, Sam, for sharing this update with us.
Thank you for the article you wrote last year Sam that introduced us to this legislation. Or maybe it was a video. Your passion was contagious - it was clear this bill was important to you and it became important to us. I don't share much of the Bulwark on my fb feed but I shared this. And I wrote about what you explained last December. Thank you again.
Signaling out Sanders was unnecessary, it was cruel every time when it couldn't pass. Nothing makes one time worse than any other time.
The Bulwark dunks on Sanders every chance they get. Conservatives at heart.
Thanks for your your opinion. In my opinion it was healthy and good to call out Sanders, if for nothing else but to illustrate how demanding perfection can be the enemy of the good. We were lucky that there was something that came up again so so that the bill could be attached to.
It's a sad commentary that a special bill to fund research into pediatric cancer was even required much less that it took years to pass.
Great job, Sam. Thanks for this informative, instructive piece. A welcome break from what has become the new norm in news. Lots of old school inter and intra party log rolling (“sausage making” including Sanders’ early “veto”) no doubt to get your bill passed. There is something in your account that should remind us of the process of governance as it once was. Give and take , not just all take no give. Encourage us to find the way back there.
So that’s how they made the sausage. Interesting to see government actually functioning for a change. Especially interesting to see the Democrats give Mike Johnson the precise number of votes he needed to cancel out the 21 defecting Republicans. This is a huge win for Democrats. Going into negotiations on reining in ICE we hold the face cards, inasmuch as we are happy to just let DHS funding lapse. That’s a powerful “best alternative to a negotiated agreement.” It’s possible the administration may also be looking for a way out of a politically untenable position. Perhaps Minneapolis is our Gettysburg.
"Then, in late December 2024, it was part of a major government funding deal that was suddenly scuttled after Elon Musk threw a tantrum over the inclusion of any new spending provisions."
This sentence is an absolute indictment of our politics. At least Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders are senators. They are accountable to their voters for their decisions, who have empowered them with the ability to object to legislation. But Elon Musk is not an elected official. He is a white supremacist, pedophile-curious, ketamine-addicted man-child with a reputation for genius that is utterly undeserved (the geniuses behind his companies are the engineers and scientists) and enormous delusions of grandeur. He is not accountable to anyone, it seems. And in December 2024, Joe Biden was president. Musk had absolutely no official powers whatsoever.
I'm on the verge of saying we should set aside 1776, despite this year being what it is, and start partying like it's 1793.
Excellent point. How could he stop a bill? Did he have a huge amount of influence over Republicans, so much so he could just tell them how to vote?
In autocratic Czarist Russia, Lenin observed that the liberal elites were too weak to lead a liberal-democratic revolution, necessitating that the (people) proletariat take the lead. Lenin consistently urged the people to trust only in each other, their own strength, and to avoid relying on liberal elites, as they would inevitably fail the people.
"We are weak? That means that we have no revolution, nor can there be one. That is not a revolution of the people, but swindling of the people by a pack of liberal lackeys of the Czar. That is not a struggle for liberty, but a bartering away of the people’s freedom in exchange for parliamentary seats. That is not the beginning of a new life, but perpetuation of the old starvation and drudgery, the old stagnancy, and putrefaction." - Lenin
Finally!!! I’m thrilled. Thanks, Sam!
Fantastic news! Had my American friends contacting their senators but really thought Bernie had killed it, so, so glad to be wrong!
Thank you for writing this, Sam. It's well written and presented the reality of how hard it can be to get something through our political system at any time, not just during Trump years. But I've been feeling recently like the only possible news until Trump leaves office is going to be horrible news, and it's hard to hang onto the kind of hope that we need to keep joy in our lives. And joy, as a lot of people are noticing lately, is a type of medicine, and a weapon against the dark. So reading this gave me something I really needed today. (Along with watching Rocky Kanaka of Sitting with Dogs save a terrified dog from life and death in a shelter. Two forms of inspiration in one day. Wow.)
Rocky is great. Also We Rate Dogs!
So kid’s cancer gets a larger slice of a shrinking pie, and we declare it victory?
It’s not even obvious that children’s cancer is relatively underfunded.
Research into children's diseases, cancer included, get a fraction of the funding given towards adult medical research. Cancer is the leading cause of death in children.
As it should. Which “fraction” is correct? What’s the new metric and what was the old? Why is the new one better?
And why is that as it should be?
This isn't some pork barrel bridge to nowhere. The fact that lawmakers, private organizations, cancer victims and their families poured five years of effort into getting this passed should tell you all you need to know. This many people don't spend this much time and energy on something that isn't needed.
I’m a scientist. I’ll need data, not advocacy.
Then you should be in a good position to get and interpret the data. And by the way, that wasn't "advocacy." I simply made the point that people don't work that hard or that long (or shed tears, for that matter) for unnecessary or frivolous legislation. If adequate funding for child cancer research already existed, why would they bother?