Please Call your Rep Today to Help Medical Research

The House Budget committee recently voted down an ammendment that would increase the budget in the areas of health and education by $7 billion.  No surprise - all the Dems voted for the ammendment while all the Republicans voted against.  Must be more of that compassionate conservativism at work.  But that doesn't mean we're entirely defeated yet.  Grassroots action got this ammendment passed in the Senate as enough Republicans were convinced to cross over in favor.  Now its time to go to work on the full House and convince them to ignore the recommendation of the Budget Committee.

As a cancer researcher who relies on NIH funding to support my work (and, therefore, my livlihood) I realize this is a rather self-serving request.  But at the end of the day, continuing to support medical research in this country benefits us all both physically and economically.  I don't think I need to convince anyone here on those points.  But apparently some Republicans do need convincing.  They need convincing that this is a country that believes in science.  They need convincing that this is a country that trusts facts and evidence - not just blind faith in an ideology.  They need convincing that this is a country that will vote their ass out of office if they continue to align themselves with the radical elements of this country.  Those radical elements that would happily see all real science funding cut in favor of improving the latest faith-based technologies.

The House is expected to consider the Budget resolution next week, so there is still time to act.  Please call your Representative and ask them to support Rep. Michael Castle's (R-DE... so there's at least one) plan to amend the budget resolution to include $7 billion the Senate added for health and education programs to the FY 2007 budget.

As a special bonus, if I ever discover anything interesting, I will name it after the 50th Kossack caller.  Get those phones ringing!!

•  As one working in cancer research

  I fully support your effort. Please CALL folks. This is serious. I diaried this before and I'm glad to see the issue again. By conducting prospective randomized clinical trials, we get real data that is used to make real medical decisions. The National Cancer Institute is directed by a Bush crony who now wants to be commissioner of the FDA too. Can you say ethics breach. He is supposed to resign from the NCI but that hasn't happened yet. His ideas about solid research are insane. I wish I could post something more coherent but I must leave now to take ny son to a birthday party.

  With that, please CALL folks. This IS serious.

  Thanks for the diary. I'll call my rep. and hotlink your diary. Please post updates.

  Thank you!

  by michelle on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 01:54:28 PM PDT

•  Also,

  Maybe you can re-diary this one Monday when there is more traffic.  Just a thought. Thanks again TheC.

  by michelle on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 01:56:26 PM PDT

  •  Yes

    My thought too, Michelle.   People have to know that a phone call or even an e-mail will help.  I've already written to Kohl and Feingold, in addition to my rep in the House, Tammy Baldwin.  

    by 3goldens on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 03:22:27 PM PDT

•  Another cancer researcher

  I don't think that most folks realize how badly these budgets have been slashed by the Bush fiasco.  One measure of this is known as a payline.  Typically, during the Clinton administration with a strong, steady increase in the research budget for NIH (and competant leadership), the payline was about 22-24% for most grants.  This has dropped for my study section that awards grants to 11%.  Getting grants has always been tough.  

  But what this means is that over 50% of the highly, highly qualified investigators that used to get funded are now losing their funding.  This isn't trimming fat folks, this is trimming neurons.  

  No problem for most professions, the workforce just moves on to something else and comes back when things are better.  But for highly specialized research (which by the way drives hugh portions of the rest of the economy) it takes years to rebuild research programs.  The pay ain't great, the work conditions usually suck (if you have a family or like to go outside your lab to do something beside sleep) and the only thing that keeps us at it is the love of doing research.  If you throw enough US researchers out of work, guess what?  People don't become researchers, so you can't just restart the pump again at some later time and expect everything to be hunky-dory.  

  Get ready to start seeing those amazing patents that form the basis for your company start being issued in China and elsewhere.  

  by zootfloggin on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 02:18:59 PM PDT

  •  This is exactly my thinking

    I'm a MD/PhD student, and I already see the handwriting on the wall.  There isn't going to be the funding anymore.  The Powers that Be just don't care if America is the world leader in biomedical research anymore.  They'd rather it all be done by highly-skilled, dirt cheap labor from India and China.  Either way, they still get their life-saving cures.

    It makes me sad, but it seems like those who stay behind will only be the well-established with strong links to corporate money.

    by viget on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 02:36:29 PM PDT

•  Another researcher weighs in

  We have a grant going to NIH. The funding probabilities are 7%,we are told. And yes, it sorta has to do with cancer, but dealing with a protein that does not seem to be a player.

  I am older than 50. I am not a faculty at a major university. I am expensive on the grant that pays me. Chances are fairly good that I will not make it to a 65 retirement age in this job.

  I am not one of the lucky who has managed to keep one job. I am counting... 4 jobs in scientific research in 20+ years.

  by riverlover on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 02:49:54 PM PDT

•  Suggestion

  I have a friend who is battling ovarian cancer so I'm very interested in this and via the National OV/CA web-site I get "action alerts".  Unfortunately, I don't have the link any longer for this latest effort to fight back against the slashing for cancer research funding---but if anyone can go to that web site OR the American Cancer Society web site (because I believe they also sent out an action alert on this) and put up a link here to either of those two places, people will be directed to the "cap-wiz" site where you simply fill in your zip code and get a message that's already been prepared.  You sign it and it gets sent to your House rep.  Makes it REAL easy.  I know that my friend and folks on the boards she posts at are fighting like heck to get the word out on this.  I'll do everything I can to get the word out to more people as well.

  by 3goldens on Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 03:20:22 PM PDT