Proposed budget cuts threaten US leadership in science - David C. Amberg, Syracuse

In the most recent federal budget, there was some relief in the form of modest increases to the NIH budget but discussions in Washington concerning plans for the 2018 budget are alarming. A $5.8 billion (19 percent) cut has been proposed, which is equivalent to cutting the entire cancer research budget of the NIH. The scale of such cuts would be devastating and lead to the collapse of the biomedical enterprise and pipeline of advancements coming out of U.S laboratories. Over a fairly short time period, we would become reliant on other countries for access to cutting-edge biomedical advances, and at their whim for what we would pay for those advancements. More alarming is a proposal from the Executive Branch to cap indirect cost recovery at 10 percent, which would not require congressional approval. http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/07/suny_upstate_proposed_budget_cuts_threaten_us_leadership_in_science_commentary.html