The president's comments on basic research aren't quite true.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
By Kevin Bullis
In last night's State of the Union address, President Bush blamed Congress for failing to fund his American Competitiveness Initiative--a failure that led to hundreds of researchers losing their jobs. But he was only telling part of the story.
In the address, President Bush said, "Last year, Congress passed legislation supporting the American Competitiveness Initiative, but never followed through with the funding." He then asked Congress to "double federal support for critical basic research in the physical sciences."
The request for doubled funding is a repeat from 2006, when Bush announced the American Competitiveness Initiative, which would, over 10 years, double the funding at key agencies involved in physical-sciences research. The initiative was in response to a National Academies report highlighting the need to increase basic research funding if America is to remain competitive worldwide.
So far, those funds have failed to appear. The 2007 budget request included the funds, but the appropriations bill stalled. (See "Alternative-Energy Spending Fizzles Out.") The 2008 budget request also included the funds, but again, the spending was never approved by Congress.
But the president's statement that Congress "never followed through with the funding" leaves out the fact that Congress failed to do so in part because of pressure from him. The funding increases for basic research had actually been included in a catchall spending bill, but they were cut at the last minute in response to veto threats from the president, who had set a firm limit on the amount of domestic spending he would allow. The added research money put the bill over the limit, and the Democrats weren't willing to cut money from other areas, such as the funding for energy research that Bush had wanted to be cut. What's more, nearly a billion dollars in earmarks--Congressional pet projects--also directed money away from basic research.
As a result, hundreds of researchers from two national research labs who had been expecting increases in funding suddenly found themselves without jobs. The cuts have also put in jeopardy two international research projects, including one for a large experimental fusion reactor that could address long-term energy needs. (See "Federal Research Funding Cut.")
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Comments
Tagamet49 on 01/30/2008 at 8:27 AM
1
I know that this will unleash the Bush Hater's (I'm not a big fan of his either), but if Congress can't cut the pork from both sides of the aisle, I hope the anti-pork stance continues.
cvmichael on 01/30/2008 at 11:13 AM
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Matt.Musson on 01/30/2008 at 12:02 PM
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50 YEARS! That is the projected point where this fusion project reaches the commercial stage. That effectively means NEVER!
More money down the rat hole.
gabrielg01 on 01/30/2008 at 12:43 PM
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Besides, when we support a science enterprise we support far more than the actual project. The project could turn out a failure in its stated goals. However, every science project nurtures new generations of scientists, engineers, technicians etc. These provide a collective national know-how, which benefit the nation in multiple ways. They are also the foundation of other future scientific enterpises, which could be very successful.
When you are killing science, you are killing America's golden goose. You don't need to be a scientist to realize that.
thermodog on 01/30/2008 at 1:15 PM
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jpdemers on 01/30/2008 at 9:56 PM
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Unfortunately, under this president, the "State of the Union" speech has become little more than an occasion for eye-rolling. Especially this time around, I don't believe anybody was seriously analyzing the speech for meaningful content. At most, there have been sporting attempts --as here-- to spot the spin.
It's done, gone, and forgotten, and I would be very surprised if it receives mention anywhere after its 8-day media shelf life expires.
dkohn on 02/21/2008 at 1:47 PM
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