Under President Trump’s astute guidance, the federal government is working to destroy support for scientific research in all fields, ceding control of innovation and scientific advances to China. The People’s Republic of China produces significant multiples of STEM scientists than the U.S. and we are in the process of deporting foreign scientists and making our nation hostile to immigrants with scientific backgrounds. Actually, all immigrants.
Federal funding has been cut to universities that conduct most of our scientific research, forcing the universities to curb the studies being done and dismissing scientific personnel, both foreign and domestic. In addition, federal agencies and departments are firing scientific personnel and cutting back on the research that was under way or planned for the future by federal agencies. Much of this is under the direction of Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In addition, HHS, The Department of Health and Human Services under Robert Kennedy Jr, is slicing his department by 20,000 personnel, from 82,000 to 60,000 or below.
HHS includes the (NIH) National Institutes of Health, the (CDC) Communicable Disease Center, and the (FDA) Federal Drug Administration under its control. The HHS is supposed to research all diseases and methods of prevention. However, the CDC and Kennedy failed miserably to blunt the measles epidemic mainly in Texas and New Mexico by convincing residents of these states to take the measles vaccine. Meanwhile, DOGE and Musk fired workers at the NIH whose research concentrated on Alzheimer’s and other dementias, a major problem in the U.S. with our aging population.
NOAA, which predicts the weather and any devastating storms that may hit the U.S. has also taken major cuts in personnel. Besides early warning for Americans of hurricanes and tornadoes, NOAA’s information is also necessary to ensure safety in aviation. NOAA does research on weather patterns and has done some research on climate change, a topic that’s forbidden on Trump’s agenda. In fact, all work on climate change by federal agencies has been discontinued, as Trump has claimed that global warming is a hoax. It is surprising that Musk, who is a scientist himself and knows about the dangers of global warming, has not spoken up and made Trump understand the dangers that climate change presents to America and the world. Personnel have also been dismissed from the EPA- Environmental Protection Agency. This agency is responsible for monitoring industrial plants, oil wells and pipelines along with any other facilities responsible for polluting the environment, particularly with substances that can be dangerous to human health.
Musk also shut down USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. Though this agency’s major goal is to provide medical and other assistance to nations that have epidemics or have suffered disasters, it also conducts some research on diseases. USAID was a projection of America’s soft power of which Trump and Musk are apparently ignorant.
The Department of Education is also being shut down. This federal department sets standards for education in science as well as other subjects. Currently, American students lag almost all advanced nations in international tests of reading, math and science. The Department of Education should be getting more personnel instead of being closed to make sure that all the states are meeting the standards in major subjects. We need more and more proficient students in STEM subjects if we hope to keep up with China. Trump’s moves so far are handing China leadership in science on a silver platter. This cannot be good for America.
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Buy The Uninformed Voter on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local bookstore
ID 7455395 | Education ©
Aprescindere | Dreamstime.com
Posted at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tags: HHS, Musk, science, STEM, Trump
Comments
Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020