While We’re Busy Fighting the Boogeyman, Cancer Is Winning

A Cost–Benefit Analysis of Immigration Spending, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” Tax Priorities, and Why Cancer Research is the Better Investment:

OMG. I f***ing HATE cancer.

Why are we pouring massive amounts of money into chasing a boogeyman when every single one of us knows multiple people who have died from cancer or are fighting it right now?

If we redirected that extra 170 billion from the Big Beautiful Bill into cancer research instead of immigration enforcement, we could boost the economy, create enormous numbers of jobs, keep people working, caring for their kids, and paying taxes. Even then, we would still be spending around 31 billion a year on immigration, which is already an astronomical amount.

Undocumented immigrants contribute roughly 97 billion in taxes annually and are only eligible to use about 2.9 billion in federal funds per year. I ran the numbers. We are spending about $40 to stop them from using $1, and in the process we lose another $30 in federal tax revenue. I did not even include state funds in my calculations, which adds at least another $20. On top of that, enforcement efforts are not limited to undocumented workers. People on valid visas are also being pulled out of the workforce. That (plus all the chaos and fear caused by sending in the gestapo) is disrupting local economies and wiping out tax bases in entire cities.

Why not let the people who already have jobs work and direct that tax revenue into cancer research?

The entire budget of the National Cancer Institute is about 7.2 billion per year and is only partially funded by taxes. Imagine what real, sustained funding could accomplish. Instead of researchers spending 30 to 40 percent of their time applying for grants, they could focus on actual research. Promising ideas that currently die on the vine due to lack of funding could finally be explored. Early detection could improve. Treatments could advance. Cancer could become a manageable condition instead of a death sentence.

Now imagine the economic ripple effects. Jobs created through research and development. People healthy enough to remain in the workforce. Families spared financial collapse and loss of a parent/spouse. Massive savings in Medicare, Medicaid, and disability programs.

Why are we not investing in ourselves?

We can still address crime. Instead of aggressive enforcement that creates chaos, we could invest in detectives, prosecutors, and lab workers to clear massive backlogs of untested evidence. That actually improves public safety.

Right now, we are spending about 13 percent of our tax revenue just to pay interest on the deficit, and we are adding trillions more. If we are truly broke, why are we not investing in something that saves lives and pays us back?

Cancer research saves lives. It saves money. It grows the economy. It brings in tax revenue.

This should not be controversial. I have not heard a single Republican or Democrat even float this idea. I cannot be the first person to think of it. Can I?