Comments on: When The Words “Just” And “Before” Foreshadow Bad Things For Medical Research

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:58:50 +0000

The “just” worries me, the “before” doesn’t. The “before” stuff is just a way of phrasing, just as “that’s the last thing I want to do today” doesn’t mean that you actually want to do that action.

By: Brian Too

Brian Too — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:32:38 +0000

@2. Nullius in Verba,

Agreed. The constructive way to solve the financial problem is not to say “my portion is more important than everyone else’s”. Even if there is some truth to the argument! The sacred cows have to replaced with regular cows.

Rationality and sense begins to return when you look at the longer term. Once the finances have stabilized, more normal program funding levels can return.

In this respect the President is correct when he says that “…we’re going to need to look at the whole budget…”. This is the irreplaceable role of executive oversight. To look at the entire picture and make choices.

By: Nullius in Verba

Nullius in Verba — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 09:29:06 +0000

Many people are not very numerate, and have difficulty understanding the quantities involved. Sometimes a picture helps.

http://www.investors.com/image/RAMclrfnl-040511-pie.jpg.cms

It’s much the same as balancing your household budget. If you spend more than you earn, going deeper in debt, you know it has to come to an end eventually. But every politician in office figures they can put it off for the next guy to deal with.

Everybody who benefits from it always regards their own slice of the pie as absolutely essential, and wants the cuts to fall elsewhere – especially on those bits they disagree with politically. The result of which of course is everybody fighting each other in a mess of deals of political compromises, and every cut being resisted, until you end up where Greece is today. What happens when there is nobody left to bail you out? What happens when there is nobody left with any assets to loot?

It has interesting parallels to the environmental issue, doesn’t it?

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:42:54 +0000

Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, Steel” is a great example of why we need to keep investing in research. To make a long story short, one of his main points is that human civilizations in Europe and Asia progressed & dominated much faster than those on other continents, such as in Australia and Africa, b/c of innovation.
If we (America) limit our ability to innovate, other continents will eventually progress & dominate us.
It’s a long book but well worth the read.