Nobel laureates line up behind Obama's science policy (endorsement)

[Nambe]

Source: The Boston Globe

Barack Obama's campaign today laid out a detailed science policy, including a commitment to double funding for major science agencies over the next decade. The campaign also announced that 61 Nobel laureates -- including many current and former Bay State scientists -- are endorsing Obama. ...

... In a letter of endorsement, the Nobel laureates wrote that visionary science and technology policy would be essential to maintain US competitiveness. They ranged from Sheldon L. Glashow, the Harvard physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, to Craig C. Mello, the University of Massachusetts Medical School at Worcester biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006.

"Our once dominant position in the scientific world has been shaken and our prosperity has been placed at risk," the letter states. "We have lost time critical for the development of new ways to provide energy, treat disease, reverse climate change, strengthen our security, and improve out economy." ...

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/nobel_laureates.html

[LeftinOH]

1. Harrumph... "The Nobel prize is run by liberals......."

..is the commentary on this development, which we can expect from Rushbo, Beck, Innanity et al

[xxqqqzme]

3. I believe the word currently in (over)use is......

elitist.

[Hugin]

2. How will it be funded?

All our dollars belong Wall Street.

[JonLP24]

4. Obama Rolls Out List of Nobel Supporters

Source: ScienceNOW Daily News

By Jeffrey Mervis
ScienceNOW Daily News
25 September 2008
Sixty-one Nobelists today announced that their votes would go to Senator Barack Obama (D–IL) for U.S. president, because he has promised that his administration will give science a major role in solving the country's most pressing problems.

Medicine Nobelist Harold Varmus, president of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and an adviser to the Obama campaign, said that Obama's pledge of "sustained and predictable increases" in funding basic research is a major reason for what Varmus characterized as "widespread support" in the scientific community for the Democratic candidate. In a teleconference with reporters that included chemistry Nobelist Peter Agre and medicine Nobelist H. Robert Horvitz, Varmus also cited Obama's pledge to "encourage innovation, improve education, and restore scientific integrity" to federal agencies. He said that Obama's commitment to science would cost an additional $15 billion a year, to be offset by reducing the number of federal earmarks, ending the war in Iraq, and making government purchasing more efficient.

Asked after the teleconference which science agencies would receive priority, the Obama campaign skirted the question, instead reiterating the candidate's pledge to "double the budgets of key science agencies" over the next decade. Both Obama and Republican nominee Senator John McCain (AZ) have promised to appoint a presidential science adviser early in their respective administrations and to give that person power to shape other appointments and White House policies. But McCain has been less specific about his research spending plans, mixing his support for increases with a call for a 1-year freeze on all domestic discretionary spending.

The full list of Nobel laureates, plus their letter of support, can be found at: http://obama.3cdn.net/6667d14fd1301d9e8e_dbg0mvxzz.pdf. The science and technology platforms of each candidate are available at their respective Web sites, barackobama.com and johnmccain.com.

Read more: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/925/3

[SharonRB]

5. I'll bet Al Gore's name is on that list! n/t

[caraher]

8. Nope - scientists only

[msongs]

6. oh, yay. how bout calling MCcain out for his suspended campaign fraud? nt

[Bicoastal]

7. John McCain's website has a science platform?

I though it was just a link to that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoJKWR3DIuA">Thomas Dolby video.

[BayjanDem]

9. Intelligence

draws Intelligence. This should not be a surprise.

[Supply Side Jesus]

10. A bunch of Ivory Tower types....

Which kicks ass!!
Nothing like having the world's smartest back you. Nuff said.

[jberryhill]

11. Buncha Smart Alecky Eggheads - What Do They Know About Shooting Moose?

I'll bet if Pootin reared his ole' ugly haid over their airspace, they wet their fancy pants.

[Hardrada]

12. But the Beach Volleyball Olympians are GOP!!

[OakCliffDem]

13. Kicked and Recommended