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The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

sensible-med.com

191–200 of 340 posts

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#191
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, those of us paying attention knew that when he disavowed Project 2025 he was talking nonsense. But OP said Trump "campaigned on doing exactly these things". He didn't. He campaigned on literally disavowing these things. "we knew this would happen" !== "he campaigned on doing exactly these things"

Yes, and that's my point. Anyone who truly, honestly "didn't know" doesn't deserve to have a vote.

I’d suggest your viewpoint is a pretty sheltered one. Many people (relatives of mine included, sadly) marinate in a stew of social media algorithms showing them things that confirm their priors and they aren’t exposed to any oppositional media.

Perhaps they don’t deserve a vote. But if they don’t then a lot of voters don’t deserve a vote. And maybe we ought to be asking ourselves “what systems have we set up that have led to such wildly underinformed voters? Are there things we can do to rectify that?” rather than just give up on a significant section of the population. Much easier to write it off as a person’s individual failure than consider it as a societal issue.

(not to mention, “they don’t deserve a vote” doesn’t say a whole lot. They still have a vote even if we decide they’re undeserving. We’re all in it together, like it or not)

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#192

I work at a medical device company and I have heard that the people at the FDA we used to deal with are gone. the whole department. This is just nuts. I am totally in support of looking into efficiencies but the way they are going about it is totally destructive. Trump will be most impactful president in a long time. Domestically and internationally. They are tearing down everything we relied on for decades.

When covid shutdowns killed the hospitality industry, the workers found new careers and when things opened up again there was a huge labour shortage. Even in couple years if things are restored, who will want to return when they know the next government could just come in and pull another hatchet job.

>Even in couple years if things are restored, who will want to return when they know the next government could just come in and pull another hatchet job.

I'm pretty sure they're counting on that, which is why they're doing this in the most disrespectful way possible.

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#193
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> roughly half the country is ecstatic about what he is doing A number of his actions are wildly unpopular. The Jan 6th Pardons, and his pro-Putin agenda. His polling is historically poor for a month into a president's term, and there are large protests around the country. In another month, his polling will be completely underwater.

"Only" 58% oppose the pardons according to [1]. I mean, it's a majority, but it's not what I'd call "wildly unpopular". It was always going to be opposed by a vast majority of Democrat voters, so relatively few Republican voters oppose it. I find it rather concerning. Back in the day much was said about Bush's "historically low" approval ratings too. It was somewhat satisfying to see, but in the end it didn't really…

> Back in the day much was said about Bush's "historically low" approval ratings too.

George W. Bush's initial approval ratings were technically historically low, but were 57% gross approval, and +32% net; the lowest (from Eisenhower forward) prior was his immediate predecessor at 58% gross and +38% net.

But that's nothing like Trump's "historically low" initial ratings this term, at 48% gross, -1% net, which also dropped by mid-February to 45% gross, -6% net (with a majority -- 51% -- registering disapproval.)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/655955/trump-inaugural-approval...

https://news.gallup.com/poll/656891/trump-job-approval-ratin...

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#194
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FDR was more extreme than Trump so far. For instance consider banning private ownership of gold by executive order. Mind you, Trump could still declare himself dictator. But based on what's happened so far? FDR was more extreme.

FDR's order regarding gold was part of a broader effort to combat the Great Depression by stopping gold hoarding, allowing the government to inflate the money supply and stimulate the economy. It wasn’t a total seizure — people were compensated at the then-official rate of $20.67 per ounce. The comparison doesn't hold water whatsoever.

Name me 5 executive orders by Trump which, combined, disrupt normal economic affairs by as much as that single one.

As for the broader efforts, the New Deal required various things like reinterpreting the Commerce Clause. Look up "the switch in time which saved nine" for why the Supreme Court went along with it.

Not to mention things like the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW 2.

No, FDR was the closest thing we've had to a king. There is a reason why the 22nd amendment was passed so quickly after he died.

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#196

Can somebody help me understand: say I have a research grant and my cap on how much university can take for its operations is 15%. Does it mean that from my 85% I can not buy/rent necessary equipment/facilities previously provided by university anymore?

I can think of two factors. First, some direct costs could be prohibited. But more importantly, to make this work universities would need to restructure to make all of their services fee-based, and researchers would need to allocate these fees item by item in their proposals. Which seems doable, but is no way to run an efficient operation. Even if the bottom line looked the same, the value to NIH and taxpayers would be far worse due to the inefficiency.

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#197
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and that's my point. Anyone who truly, honestly "didn't know" doesn't deserve to have a vote.

I’d suggest your viewpoint is a pretty sheltered one. Many people (relatives of mine included, sadly) marinate in a stew of social media algorithms showing them things that confirm their priors and they aren’t exposed to any oppositional media. Perhaps they don’t deserve a vote. But if they don’t then a lot of voters don’t deserve a vote. And maybe we ought to be asking ourselves “what systems have we set up that hav…

If only they were only exposed to my propaganda.

"Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth and sooner or later that debt is paid"

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can tell who never bothered to watch a single Trump rally or campaign event by the fact that they’ll LARP being a deceived supporter.

Seriously, what is with this!? Why are so many liberals pretending to be offended Trump supporters online? It’s obviously fake. My company is majority conservative, not one single person I’ve even heard of is mad at Trump - except that he isn’t going far enough fast enough for them.

I think you're right. I've seen so many conservatives online relish in hatred as illegal immigrants are shipped to Guantamo, as trans people are purged from government and the military and stripped of HRT, as Trump called Zelensky a dictator and threatens to seize Greenland and annex Canada, as agencies are gutted, and puts out AI slop of Gaza turned into a billionaire's resort with golden statues of Trump and Bibi, as Bannon and Musk sieg hieled.. it's all wildly popular.

I have no empathy for such people. If they run the country into the ground, I just hope they suffer too.

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#199
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This government doesn't represent any sane informed person with a rudimentary understanding of even just the last 50 years of geopolitics. The system is clearly broken. First past the post voting is mathematically stupid. When the system no longer serves the people, violence has been the solution for the entire history of humanity. You know who doesn't like violence and prefers sign holding? The people with the boot…

No I'm happy with this result, you're not. You want to put a boot on my throat. You're unhappy with the sudden change of a slight, probably temporary shift of America being run by popular will rather than elite consensus, unless elite consensus changes to align with the popular will (hopefully). Liberal nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan was not sane. Continued escalation of Ukraine war was not sane. Mass immigr…

Elon Musk is the "popular will" in your thinking?

How is an unelected billionaire a representative of the people?

Maybe he's a symptom of the "burn it all down" mindset that seems to find outlet through Trump, a mindset I have sympathy for, but in the end, he's just another elite who is trying to subvert the government for his own ends.

Re: The NIH is being slashed and burned, not "reformed"

#200
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What works for a country the size of a New York neighbourhood doesn't work for a country the size of a continent.

Which country are you referring to?

Presumably Ireland. Because it doesn't fit Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.

Wait, it doesn't even fit Ireland.

Unless they were talking about population? Then maybe NZ would fit. Is there a New York neighbourhood with 5 million people?

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