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Dear All, Thought I'd share. I just faxed this to the editor of the New York Times. I hope it does some good. Regards, WHH 54/18 Dear Editor, "Beggars" and "Patriots"? We PWP (persons with Parkinson's Disease-PD) want a cure for our relentless, uncomfortable, very expensive disease. There are over one million American PWPs. A few years back some eminent researchers, lawmakers, and others got together and decided that $100 million dollars a year was the amount, which could best be assimilated into new PD research for a cure. Several hundred of us have begged Congress for four years to pass into law the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research and Education Act. Last year they finally did it. Our bill authorizing the spending is now public law. Then we found that "authorized" funds are not the same as "appropriated" funds. We went to Washington again this year asking Congress to please finish the job- appropriate the full 100 million dollars in the Udall law. PD costs the American economy 25 billion dollars a year (over $ 68 million a day). Reason dictates that with Social Security disability, lost income taxes, etc. PD costs the US Federal Government a lot. A conservative guess on my part is something like $5 billion a year (over $13 million a day). We believe the five years Congress has resisted funding PD research under the Udall law has squandered that time and $ 125 billion. If my conservative estimate is right, the Government spends $100 million every week (7.3 days) maintaining the PD status quo. We know there are no guarantees that this will produce a cure. However, a lesser therapy will still result in (less) improvement -both personal and financial. We also know of new treatment proposals our researchers tell us are of high scientific merit. We know a gentleman who was an "end stage patient", who received a unique treatment a couple of years ago. He and at least one other have been improving steadily for about two years (remember this is a PROGRESSIVE degenerative disease). Applying a cure, the US Government will begin saving a lot of money, year after year. Some significantly improved therapy-short of a cure-should still produce savings (less). Getting this done quickly should be viewed as patriotic. Please help us save the cash and the rest of our lives. Call your Congress at (202) 224-3121. Ask them to appropriate the full 100 million . 380 words (excluding these and the name block)