This is an adapted fragment from the February 20 Episode of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
The state of Missouri was represented in the congress by Republican Roy Blunt for 26 years. He started as a rep. Blunt and served Republican Leadership for years in the house before he became a senator.
Bottom, among all the other he did during his office, was a persistent advocate for financing Alzheimer's research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). When Blunt announced in 2021 that he withdrew from his office, the NIH decided to dedicate their very important Alzheimer's research center to him. They called it the Roy Blunt Center for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia research.
During the dedication ceremony, Blunt spoke in 2022 about the importance of NIH financing and the research financing of Alzheimer's specifically. A couple of other republicans from the congress also showed up and emphasized how important it was to finance that specific program. Rep. Tom Cole van Oklahoma said to the crowd: “To be able to do what we have done, a five -fold increase in Alzheimer's and dementia research is a very special thing.”
“This is our most expensive disease,” he continued. “And you can look at the trend line of what it costs to pay for Alzheimer's and you will soon point out that it is cheaper to try to cure it, or at least to manage and postpone it, then it is to to deal with it. And that has really led the investments here more than anything. “
Cole stated that the financing of this specific center of Alzheimer's is not only a good thing to do, it also saves government money in the long term. But you can probably guess where this is going.
This week the new Republic reported that the Trump government has now reduced the financing for that Republican Alzheimer's Center. About a tenth of the employees of the center have now been released, including the incoming director, “a highly regarded scientist who has credited important innovations in the field,” people who are familiar with the situation the new Republic told.
On Wednesday, Senator Patty Murray van Washington, senior member of the Health, Education, Labor, Labor and Pensions Committee said that senior scientists and acting director of the center were dismissed by the Trump government.
Cole's office did not respond to a request for commentary on these reported cuts, but Michael Greicius, a neurologist at Stanford University, explained to the new Republic that the devastating impact of the center would have on Alzheimer's research. '[The center] has developed infrastructure and brain confidence that is really unparalleled in the world, in terms of his progress in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, “he said.” Weakening [it] Will considerably restore Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research. “
If you are looking for a poster child for something that this administration does not have clear support from anyone – and that can be expected that it not only has public opposition and expert opposition, but specifically Republican Opposition – I think you have your winner.
This article was originally published on msnbc.com
