I should also add that in abandoning basic research in the hard sciences, the government is only reflecting the attitudes of the public.
Abandon is a good word. I have friends in grad school that changed their PhD endeavor from physics to engineering for this very reason. They wanted jobs upon graduation outside of academia.
But don't take my word for it: let this thread stay up for a while, and the FR science haters will come to enlighten us.
No kidding. Been there done that, got the ribbon.
Better late than never! ;^)
Why can't you astronomers keep the same hours as everyone else?