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Linda is no doubt the most respected poster on this List and her observations are true. As far as I'm concerned her's is the last word on this subject. The Udall bill was before my time with PD, but it should be transparent to all just who is responsible for the loss of so many research years. I don't expect help in my lifetime. All kinds of diseases are and have been incurable for years. Last Friday my stimulator for left side got accidentally turned off and I came close to panicking, but got myself turned on again. DBS, though I couldn't live without it my tremors were so bad, is still no solution. I have almost lost my voice and as we have seen, the results of DBS have been very problematic, if not life threatening, for some of our List members. This procedure was first pioneered in France, not the US. Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 2:34 PM Subject: PD and politics > TO anyone who thinks that finding the cure for Parkinson's, doesn't > involve politics is living with their head buried in the sand. The > Parkinson's community learned this lesson during the three year > struggle to pass the Udall bill. If we hadn't become political at > that time - PD research would still be receiving the lowest funding > of all chronic illnesses. We turned that around -- by political > activism. > > To those of you who don't want to discuss politics - i have just one > question - Where do you think the billions of dollars being spent to > fight the war in Iraq are coming from? Bush's budget for the NIH > this year proposed a 1/2 percent increase. Congress is expected to > increase it a little, but the net funding will still be less than > last year, due to the rate of inflation. Medical colleges that train > the next generation of researchers are hurting financially due to > cuts in their funding. > > The advice of scientists - experts in their fields - is being > ignored by the current administration in favor of the opinions of > religious fundamentalists and noeconservatives. Medical advisory > committeess have been stacked with those who share the President's > social and religious beliefs. Scientific associations have termed > Bush the most anti-science President in history. > I will save stem cell research issues for another time. > It absolutely matters who is sitting in the White House and in the > chambers of Congress. > IN the current political environment in the U.S. - do you really > expect any medical breakthroughs any time soon? > > Linda > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn