Dear all:

The history in the United States for funding of research has been that there has been a dramatic DECREASE in funding at the same time there has been a dramatic INCREASE in subsidies to the industry.  The National Institutes of Health, the Federal Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have all seen dramatic declines in funding as has independent research.  The total amount of money that is given to such research is a pittance -- probably less than spent on toilets for the defense department.  

Like the amount of money that goes to international development, there have been many many studies that have shown that American consistently overestimate the amount of money spent.  Americans overestimate the amount that goes to international development by over 1000 fold.  The amount of our tax dollars -- the vast majority of which goes to Egypt and Isreal and a mere pittance to other countries -- happens to be a fraction of a percent. 

I wouldn't be surprised, if the amount of funding spent on infant feeding research by US tax dollars is more than a penny a year per person.  I'm busy this week --- but I WILL look all this up.  Even if we doubled the amount of research dollars going to infant feeding, I am DEAD CERTAIN the average American would even notice a difference in their taxes, unless some politician wanted to pick on this issue as government waste.  And I am dead certain that if one eliminated waste in other arenas of health care -- for instance the amount of time or staffing needed by most practitioners to ensure that clients with insurance actually receive the benefits they actually PURCHASED from the insurance industry.

I for one would be more than happy to pay a few extra pennies a year in taxes on research for infant feeding -- and far less on subsidies like paying for formula for WIC.

Sincerely, Susan Burger

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