Good morning, Congress. Can I have my vote back, please?

Jan 08, 2007 08:49

As I was preparing my nose for its reacquaintance with Ye Olde Grindestone(e), I was greeted this morning by a rather alarming article on my New York Times homepage:

Congressional Budget Delay Stymies Scientific Research

It was honestly like a train wreck; as horrified as I was, I couldn't look away. The fact that last year's Congress saw fit to ( Read more... )

politics, public opinion, the media, capitol hill, money, scientists

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Comments 6

gamoonbat January 9 2007, 02:01:20 UTC
It is discouraging. We have been facing this for several years down here in the "red states." Many of the democrats squeeked through this election by promising to be fiscal conservatives. I would least expect them to be a bit more above board, although they may be just as tightfisted as the last crowd.

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theclimateblog January 9 2007, 02:59:57 UTC
I was certainly surprised that they didn't seem more interested in re-evaluating the fiscal policy of their predecessors. I think the problem is that for their perspective, this is just a "temporary" thing- they ignore the budget this year, and do it again next year. But for the researchers, the repurcussions go beyond just this one year.

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Science, Funding, Politics gamoonbat January 9 2007, 12:59:02 UTC
I have heard many leading Democratic politicians speak out against the "omnibus bill" approach. That was really why the budget did not pass this year. It was left to the last minute, assuming that powerful senators and congressmen could then sneak their pet projects into the omnibus. Some scientists play this game as well, unfortunately. I think it would be better for congress to "micromanage" than to leave things in the corrupt mess that they are.

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gamoonbat January 9 2007, 14:36:50 UTC
I wrote a blog about this here and gave you a "hat tip."

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