Well, yeah, because now they are either going to have to do the job as directed by their superiors, if they stay on the job, or, find a private sector job that allows them to do all their cult stuff with little to no supervision for lots of money
‘A disaster for all of us’: US scientists describe impact of Trump cuts
“Our ability to respond to climate change, the biggest existential threat facing humanity, is totally adrift,” said Sally Johnson, an Earth scientist who has spent the past two decades helping collect, store and distribute data at Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and Noaa (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
Donald Trump’s assault on science – but particularly climate science – has led to unprecedented funding cuts and staff layoffs across federally funded agencies and programs, threatening to derail research tackling the most pressing issues facing Americans and humanity more broadly. A generation of scientific talent is also on the brink of being lost, with unprecedented political interference at what were previously evidence-driven agencies jeopardizing the future of US industries and economic growth.
Johnson was among scores of scientists conducting vital research across a range of fields from infectious diseases, robotics, education, computer science and the climate crisis, who responded to a Guardian online callout to share their experiences about the impact of the Trump administration’s cuts to science funding.
They say it’s vital, but, really, what have they provided that can’t be done better in the private sector? And what’s this “our ability to respond”? None of them practice what they preach. All their policies revolve around government forcing citizens to do things they may not want to do, taking their money, and taking their life choices away.
Many said they had already had funding slashed or programs terminated, while others fear that cuts are inevitable and are beginning to search for alternative work – either overseas or outside science. So far, the cuts have led to a 60% reduction in Johnson’s team, and fear is mounting over the future of 30 years of climate data and expertise as communities across the country are battered by increasingly destructive extreme weather events.
If what they’re doing is so gosh-darned important you’d think private sector companies and organizations would be snapping them up, right? They wouldn’t have to give up “science”, right?
“We won’t be able to afford to continue providing the free and quality tools and services to make our data stores searchable, viewable, usable, and accessible. We might not even be able to afford to keep all the data … this will mean worse forecasts and less effective search and rescue responses leading to unnecessary and avoidable loss of life,” said Johnson (not her real name).
It’s not free: the government takes taxpayer money to do this, whether they like it or not.
“This is a disaster for all of us. We’re all depressed and living on a knife-edge, because we know we could lose the rest of our grants any day. These people really hate us yet all we’ve done is work hard to make people’s health better. A flu pandemic is coming for us, what’s happening in cattle is truly scary and all we have is oxygen and hope for people,” said the Ohio scientist.
Anyhow, there are lots more fun stories of doom and gloom and “why-me’s!” at the article.
How much does Mr teach believe scientists make – especially government or university scientists? Chemists start around $40,000 – $70,000 depending on location. Professors around $125,000 depending on location and experience.
NIH post-PhD salaries $52,000 to $75,000 (with 7 yrs experience). 4 years college, 4 years PhD, 7 years post-doc tops out at $75,000. Car salesmen in MO make that much.
NIH salary for a top full professor is $225,700. Universities CAN add to that.
Many university medical scientists ARE going overseas, especially to Europe. The U.S. used to attract top scientists from around the world. That will slow or stop.
CEOs median salary is $814,000.
Mr teach typed:
Medical research is not important? Should all roads, highways, bridges be built from Concrete company funds with the concreters collecting tolls?
We get it. MAGAts hate professors, scientists, teachers, medical research, universities, libraries, knowledge and scientific societies because they slaughter right-wing sacred cows. MAGAts claim it’s all about grift, abuse, fraud and waste rather than be honest – as the pour $1+ trillion into the DOD which hasn’t passed an audit in… forever.
They’d not needed-the “science is settled”, right?
This is a good thing! We do not need unelected bureaucrats taking decisions for us.