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Published online 5 February 2008 | Nature 451, 610-612 (2008) | doi:10.1038/451610a
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Bush asks for more physics - again
President seeks competitive edge with final budget request.
WASHINGTON DCIn his final year as president, George W. Bush has put forward a budget wish-list that looks to restore his priorities in science and research, with solid increases for some physical sciences and pretty much no new money for the biomedical sector.
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After nearly 8 years, I finally agree with Bush and disagree with the Dems on at least one policy point!
It is too late when you want to invest money on your life saving preject when you get deadly disease and there are no cure so far. You need invest early in NIH especially for these richer guys. Bush and congress should know if you get cancer, no matter you are president or your are most rich capitalist, there are no cure. and you want to survive you should give money to NIH as early as possible. This is life saving invest for you for me for all of us
Science funding, or at least decisions about it, needs to be removed from the government process. While I advocate and encourage private funding for basic research, funding in the public interest is something that needs to be driven by the scientific community and kept aside from the political issues of the day. It simply is not something that the governmental process can prioritize and it is something that any other administrative process needs to prioritize with caution, ensuring that the pursuit of new knowledge is foremost; since that achievement ultimately serves the public interest more than any other.
I fully understand the administration's desire to eliminate the National Children's Study. If allowed to proceed, it would no doubt document in great detail the brutal effect of poverty on the health of many of the nation's children. But then, they could always bury the study like they have in so many other cases.