NEWS

Every month we highlight an issue of national importance to compare the candidates’ positions.  This month we asked the 2 candidates, Paul Barringer and Brad Knott to comment on the following:

On May 29 the White House budget office put out a new rule. It changes how the government hands out money for research. Right now, it works on one simple idea. The best science wins, no matter who the scientist voted for.

 A group of experts reads your plan and asks one thing. Is this good science?

This rule ends that. Now a political pick - who might not have any science training at all - gets to review every grant before it goes out. And the experts? Their say drops to just “advice.” So, the experts can say yes, and the political pick can still say no.

 And the test is not whether the science is good.  The rule says grants have to “advance the President’s policy priorities”.

Paul Barringer’s response: 

For many decades, America’s research system has been built on a simple principle: fund the best ideas based on scientific merit, not politics.  If this rule allows political appointees to override expert peer review based on whether research aligns with a president’s policy agenda, that’s a significant departure from that tradition.  Taxpayer dollars should support rigorous, independent science—not ideological litmus tests.  Scientific discoveries that improve lives often come from following the evidence wherever it leads, not where politics wants it to go.

Brad Knott did not respond.

The newsletter will be taking a break for the month of August.  Have a great summer.  See you in September.

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