Weekly American Politics Thread

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This Weekly American Politics Thread to discuss anything related to the upcoming American election, legislation, policies etc. It does not have to be specifically working mom related.

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[u/lyngen]

Happy to hear about the kennedy center win. Also, their was a legal win having to do with the department of education. I'm taking all the good news I can get.

[u/AmnesiaZebra]

If you care about science, please consider taking the time to comment on the proposed changes to the OMB. A colleague explained this way:

As someone who has worked in biomedical research for over 20 years, I believe it is not an overstatement to say that the proposed changes would destroy scientific research in the US by dismantling key elements of the federal funding process.

Section 200.205 undermines the peer review process that ensures that grants are awarded based on scientific merit, instead allowing political appointees to override peer review. Allowing scientific research to be guided by political ideology was tried in the Soviet Union in the form of Lysenkoism, which led to irreparable harm to biomedical research in the USSR. The proposed OMB rule puts the US on a similar path.

Section 200.340 allows the termination of grants at any time for any reason. This will again inject political ideology into the grant process, and would make it functionally impossible to carry out long-term research programs and hire and retain qualified personnel.

Section 200.432 prohibits attendance of scientific conferences, despite the fact that key scientific breakthroughs and collaborations often happen through interactions at conferences. Without attending conferences, my lab would not learn about unpublished cutting-edge tools that can improve our research and receive regular feedback on our ongoing projects, which is critical in ensuring that our published data are high quality and enabling further progress in the field.

Section 200.220 prohibits international collaborations, ignoring the fact that foreign colleagues often represent experts who can contribute tools or knowledge that are critical for US researchers to complete a project. For example, our lab currently has a collaboration with European researchers who developed computational methods that they can easily apply to our data, addressing questions that we have been seeking to answer for a long time, whereas doing the same analyses on our own would take months of extra time. Without the possibility of international collaborations, US researchers such as myself will be forced to expend more resources and time to complete the project and might never attain the high-quality results that an international expert might bring – a clear waste of US taxpayers’ investment.

This is just a brief overview of the harms that the proposed OMB rule would bring. Overall, the proposed changes will destroy key elements of the federal grants process that have made the US biomedical enterprise the envy of the world.

[u/Gabbiani → u/AmnesiaZebra]

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me awake at night. We have gutted our educational institutions- the literal crown jewel that has kept us relevant in the Information Age.

My oldest just finished 9th grade and wants to become some sort of researcher for viruses and their genetic makeup, and I can’t see that being a viable career choice here in the medium to long term.

I’ve started trying to figure out if foreign colleges would be a better option- which is crazy since graduation is right around the corner.

[u/USAF_Retired2017]

South Carolina, please vote out Lindsey Graham. I’m begging you. The old guard needs to move on. Make room for people who genuinely want to try and make a difference. This nation is going to hell in a hand basket. Quickly. I will be moving here in a month and I’m hoping he’s gone. Louisiana already disappointed me, I’m hoping SC voters are smarter. Hugs to you all. This sub is fantastic.

[u/MagwiseTheBrave]

I feel some despair. It feels as though the fix is already in on the Mid Terms, and no one on the democratic side is doing enough about it. The "vote like your life depends on it" and "please just send $5" approach isn't going to save us.

How are we MEANINGFULLY protecting democracy from interference from the tech oligarchs?