Part of the Republican’s so-called “Pledge to America” was to cut $100 billion from the federal budget.
Even though fiscal year 2011 is already almost half over, Republicans driven by Tea Party Mad Hatters have proposed to cut $100 billion from the budget for this year, increasing their proposed cuts of many programs including deeper cuts of NIH and NSF. If the Republicans have their way the NIH budget in 2011 would be 4% lower than it was in 2010.
So in this way the Republicans are taking the “Sledge to America“, sledge hammering our country to reach a budget reduction goal whose only purpose is for them to use it in the upcoming 2012 election campaign.
Nature is now reporting that the Republican list of cuts would decrease the NIH budget by $1.62 billion and also attack the other science budgets including that of NSF. This is part of the Republican plan to speed up turning American into a 2nd rate science power in the world, spreading ignorance across the land.
There is some hope that this unwise plan of cuts will never pass the House and even if it does, it will never pass the Democratic-controlled Senate nor be signed by President Obama. But don’t rest assured as the Republican threat is that if they do not get their way then they will shut down the federal government as they did for almost a month during the Clinton Administration. Are the Republican “leaders” dumb enough to do that again after the tremendous negative political fallout they suffered the last time they shut down the government ? Perhaps.
I am in favor of cutting the federal budget deficit but going after an arbitrary number makes no sense and some programs, like the science programs, are actually money makers for America.
If you care about our country and science, contact your Senators and Congresspeople to let them know. Don’t let the Republicans take a sledge hammer to our country.