Thoughts for the Day, February 10, 2025: Life expectancy increased 33% in the last 100 years. How do you think it will do with DOGE's cuts in future research spending?

The impacts will be devasting to our health and the health of future generations, yet many people are cheering Trump on for this cost cutting policy.

A baby born in the U.S. in 1925 had a life expectancy of approximately 58 years for males and 61 years for females. This was influenced by higher infant mortality rates, limited medical treatments, and the prevalence of infectious diseases.

A baby born in the U.S. in 2025 is projected to have a life expectancy of about 76 years for males and 81 years for females, according to recent trends from the CDC and other health organizations. Advances in healthcare, improved sanitation, better nutrition, and lower child mortality rates have all contributed to this increase.

This means that, on average, babies born in 2025 are expected to live about 18–20 years longer than those born in 1925. A 33% increase in just 100 years.

This increase in life expectancy is directly attributed to the research that has taken place in our major research and teaching universities over the last 100 years. The U.S. has made these investments in research for the good of all Americans. It is the lifeblood of major enhancements and improvements in medicine and other phases of our life.

Unfortunately, Trump and Musk see it as nothing but wasteful spending by those bastions of “Woke” and liberalism, our major research universities.

As explained by Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American, the National Institutes of Health under the Trump administration announced a new policy that will dramatically change the way the United States funds medical research. Now, when a researcher working at a university receives a federal grant for research, that money includes funds to maintain equipment and facilities and to pay support staff that keep labs functioning. That indirect funding is built into university budgets for funding expensive research labs, and last year reached about 26% of the grant money distributed. Going forward, the administration says it will cap the permitted amount of indirect funding at 15%.

NIH is the nation’s primary agency for research in medicine, health, and behavior. NIH grants are fiercely competitive; only about 20% of applications succeed. When a researcher applies for one, their proposal is evaluated first by a panel of their scholarly peers and then, if it passes that level, an advisory council, which might ask for more information before awarding a grant. Once awarded and accepted, an NIH grant carries strict requirements for reporting and auditing, as well as record retention.

Anthropologist Erin Kane figured out what the new NIH policy would mean for states by looking at institutions that received more than $10 million in grants in 2024 and figuring out what percentage of their indirect costs would not be eligible for grant money under the new formula. Six schools in New York won $2.4 billion, including $953 million for indirect costs. The new indirect rate would allow only $220 million for overhead, a loss of $723 million.

States across the country will experience significant losses. Eight Florida schools received about $673 million, $231 million for indirect costs. The new indirect rate would limit that funding to $66 million, a loss of $165 million. Six schools in Ohio received a total of about $700 million; they would lose $194 million. Four schools in Missouri received a total of about $830 million; they would lose $212 million.

…Dana Nickel of Politico reported yesterday that Republican leaders in the states claim to be enthusiastic about the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency but are mobilizing to make sure those cuts won’t hurt their own state programs that depend on federal money.

When it is their ox that is getting gord, suddenly DOGE doesn’t look so good to our Republican members of congress. Unfortunately, the ones that are really getting gord are our children, our grandchildren, and their children. They are the ones who are going to pay a big price for these cuts. They will pay a price in life expectancy and slower improvement in technology.

If you are one of the people cheering on Musk and DOGE, I hope you are happy. I hope you can look your children and grandchildren in the eye and explain to them why it was OK for you to benefit from our great research universities, but they will not.

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They thought they were voting to lower the cost of eggs and to secure our border.

It has been an eventful three weeks since Trump and Musk took office. I was hoping they would be able to bring down the cost of eggs and secure the border, but those were not reasons for me to vote for Trump. They had some serious personality issues that I couldn’t ignore.

Yesterday, I paid over $5.50 for a dozen eggs at a Publix, which is the most I have ever paid. Clearly, Trump and Musk are not meeting their campaign promise to lower the cost of eggs, but they have done so many other things in the first three weeks.

Here is a list of many of their accomplishments and some of their promises. Keep in mind all of these have been done to make our country better. I am still trying to figure out the best for whom. I know it is not Leah and me.

RFK SHOWDOWN ON HILL FORMER HEROIN ADDICT UP FOR HEALTH BOSS…..Priest Throws Nazi-Like Salute at Pro-Life Rally in DC in Trollish Nod to Elon Controversy... Billionaire brigade poised to upend Washington... USDA inspector general escorted out of her office after defying firing... ... ALL FEDERAL WORKERS OFFERED BUYOUTS….Republican Suggests Kids Work at MCDONALD'S Instead of Getting Free Lunch... Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Shot Dead by Police After Allegedly Resisting New Arrest... Record-high egg prices become big Trump problem... Top FBI officials told to resign or be fired... MAGA CHAOS: AGENCY HAS NO LEADER... Musk 'pressured' FAA boss to quit one week before Potomac river plane crash... Favors for Musk?.... Pentagon Removes Milley's Security Detail and Revokes His Clearance... FCC Chair Opens Investigations Into NPR, PBS... Elon Sleeping in DOGE Offices in Eisenhower Executive Building... ... CONFUSION: White House says funding freeze in effect despite rescinding memo... USDA inspector general escorted out of office... 'Headed for technofascism'... ALEX JONES: I'M GOING TO THE WHITE HOUSE!.... Dems want more security after pardoned Oath Keeper returns to Capitol... 30 Jan. 6 prosecutors in DC canned... Trump Fires FBI Agents Who Worked on Cases Against Him -- Including 20 Heads of Field Offices... FCC demands CBS turn over '60 MISN' interview amid Trump lawsuit... Elon aides lock govt workers out of computer systems... Kudlow Admits Tariffs Could Bring 'Price Increases' For Americans... Highest-ranking Treasury official to exit after rift with Elon... UFC fighter says Hitler was 'good guy' in shameful rant... Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter sentenced in wrong-way crash that killed mother of two... We do not know what exactly Elon is doing to the federal govt... Musk aides gain access to sensitive Treasury Department payment system... Rubio embarks on mission impossible: Retake the Panama Canal... Trump to send Venezuelans back to Maduro's repressive state... President Fires Consumer Financial Watchdog Who Drew Ire of Banks... 'There will be many casualties': Panama girds for war as Rubio opens talks... FBI Agents Involved In Trump Cases Escorted Out of Offices in Friday Night Purge... Rival 'ICE Barbies' Go Head-to-Head in Vests and Lip Gloss... Musk aides lock workers out of computer systems... Trump Facing Two Crises in Second Week, He Spreads Blame Around... CBS News Staffers Irate Over Talk of PARAMOUNT Settling Trump '60 MINS' Suit... REPORT: Pardoned rioter wanted by police for soliciting minor... He launched air controller diversity program he now decries... Controllers were offered buyouts; Told to consider leaving... Marjorie Taylor Greene Questions Reporter's Accent: 'American Media First'... Pump prices set to rise... Ed Dept employees placed on leave for attending diversity training... SEC now required to seek permission from political leadership before launching probes... Trump claims Canada will 'cease to exist'... U.S. attorney in D.C. backs Musk, warns against resisting DOGE... USAID staffers told to stay out of HQ after billionaire closes it... PRESIDENT WARNS AMERICANS WILL FEEL PAIN... Trump, Musk wage two-front war as donor does president's 'dirty work'... Key DC Lieutenants Is Teen!... Given unfettered access to private data of govt employees...LATIMES owner boosts RFK Jr. online, as writer says paper cut his critique... USA NATIONAL ANTHEM BOOED…..New Official Declared 'Competent White Men Must Be in Charge'... Gas to rise... Car Prices Face $3,000 Increase!,…… WSJ: The Dumbest Trade War... Lawyers see increase in people cutting ties with USA... Applying for Canadian citizenship...EPA Tells More Than 1,000 They Could Be Fired 'Immediately'... Trump Official Warns 'Almost No One Can Control' Elon...DOGE hacking the govt; Actions unlawful?...
Republican Senators Fine Handing Their Power to World's Richest Man... FBI turns over details of 5,000 employees who worked on Jan 6 cases to DOJ...PUTIN PRAISES 'MASTER' DON...

And that’s without even getting to Trump’s latest caper: expressing his desire to take over Gaza and ship out all Palestinians to make it an appealing waterfront property, presumably complete with pink marble, waterfalls, and gold toilets, not unlike Trump Tower. Let’s make ethnic cleansing classy again! (Are we sure Trump doesn’t drink?)

It is only three weeks into his term and what we have learned is that the only thing that is safe is “conservative white guys”. Everything else, including our Constitution and Democracy, is up for grabs. Thank you, Slack Tide, by Matt LaBash

In case you wonder who is calling the shots in Washington D.C., the answer lies in the following

President Trump on Friday ordered that all foreign assistance to South Africa be halted and said his administration would prioritize the resettling of white, “Afrikaner refugees” into the United States because of what he called actions by the country’s government that “racially disfavored landowners.”

Is it a coincidence that Elon Musk is from South Africa?

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The following motivated me to write and call my Republican congressman, Jack Bergman.

After reading the following from Heather Cox Richardson on Friday, I decided I needed to call and write my Republican congressman Jack Bergman. In a clear and concise message, I indicated that I did not think Bergman and his Republican colleagues were doing enough to prevent Trump and Musk from running roughshod over the constitution. I ended by telling him, I expected better of him. I expected he would honor his oath of office and make sure that Trump was doing the same.

Here are the excerpts from Heather Cox Richardson that motivated me to write Congressman Bergman. I hope it motivates you to write to your member of the congress.

Senator Angus King (I-ME) took his Republican colleagues to task yesterday (Thursday) for their willingness to overlook the Trump administration’s attack on the U.S. Constitution. King took the floor as the Senate was considering the confirmation of Christian Nationalist Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought, a key author of Project 2025, believes the powers of the president should be virtually unchecked.

King reminded his colleagues that they had taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic” and noted that the Framers recognized there could be domestic enemies to the Constitution. “Our oath was not to the Republican Party, not to the Democratic Party, not to Joe Biden, not to Donald Trump,” King said, “but…to defend the Constitution.”

“And…right now—literally at this moment—that Constitution is under the most direct and consequential assault in our nation's history,” King said. “An assault not on a particular provision but on the essential structure of the document itself.”

Why do we have a Constitution, King asked. He read the Preamble and said: “There it is. There's the list—ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” But, he pointed out, there is a paradox: the essence of a government is to give it power, but that power can be abused to hurt the very citizens who granted it. “Who will guard the guardians?” King asked.

The Framers were “deep students of history and…human nature. And they had just won a lengthy and brutal war against the abuses inherent in concentrated governmental power,” King said. “The universal principle of human nature they understood was this: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

How did the Framers answer the question of who will guard the guardians? King explained that they built into our system regular elections to return the control of the government to the people on a regular basis. They also deliberately divided power between the different branches and levels of government.

“This is important,” King said. “The cumbersomeness, the slowness, the clumsiness is built into our system. The framers were so fearful of concentrated power that they designed a system that would be hard to operate. And the heart of it was the separation of power between various parts of the government. The whole idea, the whole idea was that no part of the government, no one person, no one institution had or could ever have a monopoly on power.”

“Why? Because it's dangerous. History and human nature tells us that. This division of power, as annoying and inefficient as it can be,… is an essential feature of the system, not a bug. It's an essential, basic feature of the system, designed to protect our freedoms.”

The system of government “contrasts with the normal structure of a private business, where authority is purposefully concentrated, allowing swift and sometimes arbitrary action. But a private business does not have the army, and the President of the United States is not the CEO of America.”

In the government, “[p]ower is shared, principally between the president and this body, this Congress, both houses…. [T]his herky-jerkiness…this unwieldy structure is the whole idea,... designed to protect us from the…inevitable abuse of an authoritarian state.”

Quote of the Day: “Nobody listens to anything except what agrees with his own prejudices.” Thomas Merton. This quote from 1966 is applicable today.

Orchid of the Day: Dick Vitale for returning courtside after a two-year battle with cancer. Love him or hate him, his impact on college basketball has been immeasurable.

Onion of the Day: Tom Brady. He talks too much during football broadcasts. Someone needs to tell him to put a cork in it. Someone needs to tell him that “less is more”.

Lyrics of the Day: He's taking a pretty big lead out there. Almost daring him to try and pick him off.
The pitcher glances over, winds up, and it's bunted.Bunted down the third base line, the suicide squeeze is on!
Here he comes, squeeze play, it's gonna be close. Here's the throw, here's the play at the plate. Holy cow, I think he's gonna make it!

If you think you know the answer, send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for February 6, 2025: Maggie May, by Rod Stewart

“Question of the Day: Let’s be honest, how many of you expected the Eagles to dominate as they did yesterday? Kansas City’s offensive line was overwhelmed by the Eagles front four.

Video of the Day: Lady Gaga performs 'Hold My Hand' ahead of Super Bowl LIX | NFL on FOX. The only thing better than this was the Eagles defensive front four.

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