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!!