Science Policy Change or Cheap McCain Makeover?

Tom Levenson writing at the Inverse Square Blog identifies several ways the Bush administration has effectively reversed progress in US science policy using official denialism, direct pressure on scientists and scientific organizations, and by nurturing public contempt. He then goes on to analyze how science might fare under McCain and points out several dismal realities including:

To deliver on his commitments on taxes, defense and fiscal responsibility, John McCain would have to eliminate all discretionary spending — including the few tens of billions spent on science R & D. ... McCain’s priorities are very clear — trillions for defense; trillions more for tax cuts.

I may a have short, somewhat tangentially related post tomorrow on the Saturday Open Science Thread with some, err.., breaking bloggy news.