PLEASE HELP!
As mentioned in a few locations today, but not in a diary that I can tell, is the fact that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are looking at a combined budget cut of 2.4 BILLION dollars if HR 1 is passed.
And that is the WRONG approach. The scientific enterprise of this nation depends on these organizations to fund the labs of our scientists.
According to the Society of Neuroscience action alert
The House of Representatives is set to debate and vote this week on legislation to reduce FY11 funding for science, including a $1.6 billion cut for NIH and a $826 million cut for NSF. Such cuts, proposed by the House Republican leadership, would reduce the NIH and NSF budgets to FY2008 levels.
If you agree that the way to find cures for diseases that afflict many americans (such as epilepsy, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, parkinson's disease, autism, cancer, heart disease, etc etc) is to adequately fund scientists, please join me in contacting your congress critter and beg, plead, cajole, email, holler, call, yell, cry, so that they hear from their constituents that SCIENCE MATTERS!!!!!
Here are some links to help you get started. It only takes a minute and no money required!!! The vote is to take place on Thursday so calling may be the best approach!
thanks!
Society for Neuroscience
FASEB
Contacting congress
(Disclosure, my lab is funded by the NIH and we study mechanisms underlying epilepsy and try to develop novel therapeutic approaches to help patients control seizures)