Congress Is Terrible at Science—and This Should Make Us Worried

[xchrom]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/05/07/the_first_bill_is_terrible_for_american_science_and_declining_research_funds.html?wpisrc=hpsponsoredd2

America’s scientists are nervous. At the American Association for Advancement of Science conference last week, there was much hand-wringing about an “innovation deficit” that threatens science in this country.

The anxiety is justified. Federal spending for science as a percentage of the government's budget has shrunk in recent decades (from above 10 percent in 1964 to less than 6 percent today).* The private sector isn’t making up the difference. Though companies invest in new science, they tend to emphasize development, rather than research. Funding for “basic research”—studying fundamental scientific questions—has declined in the United States, while in China, it has grown threefold in the last decade. An alarming-looking chart from the OECD compares stagnant overall R&D investment in the United States against the increase seen in other places:



It’s still too early for outright panic. Though research output outside the United States has quickened, much of the science produced elsewhere is replicative work of things first done in the West. The Higgs Boson was discovered at CERN; the 3-D printer commercialized by Americans. In 2013 more than twice the number of patents was filed in the United States than in China (though the prevalence of patent trolls makes this an admittedly imperfect measure of true innovation).

But the trend lines—especially of late—are worrisome. Overall federal R&D funding has fallen by $24 billion since 2010, partly as a consequence of sequestration. The only field of scientific research to receive increased federal funding from 2010 to 2014 is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency in the Department of Commerce. (NIST’s key duty is to set standards for the measurements of things.) The NIH, NSF, and all other research divisions have seen their budgets slashed:

[hobbit709]

1. That's not the only thing they're terrible at.

[rock]

10. Science deals in Truth

That is what Congress fears.

[CincyDem]

2. One definition of insanity

Expecting someone to understand that which they are paid to not understand.

Once we internalize that the real employers of Congress are big oil, big pharma, the NRA, etc...it becomes much easier to understand the purposeful stupidity that runs rampant in DC when it involves science.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Thank Gingrich for this legacy...

A cousin of mine has several doctorates and was the youngest person to have been hired by NASA. He is exactly what you think of when you think of a rocket scientist.

He managed to wangle a job as a scientific advisor to Congress years ago, explaining to them which end of a rocket goes up, but good ol' Newt decided that Congress didn't need no steenking experts and fired all the advisors.

And here we are. With Bell Labs and the other corporate research labs trimmed way back, we have decided as a nation that we just don't need research, or even basic knowledge.

FWIW I met the guy who fired the guy at Bell Labs who discovered black holes. Said there was no way to make a buck out of black holes, so he was simply an unjustified expense.

[GeorgeGist]

4. I would like to believe that historians will be around ...

to engrave our Stupidity in perpetuity.

But I'm pretty sure Stupid has that thwarted.

[seabeckind]

5. Reverse Hanlon's Razor

Our entire economic structure is based on the status quo. That we will continue burning fossil fuels, that we will continue driving all alone on expensive highways designed for capacities that occur 10% of the time, that everything is dependent upon consumerism, etc.

All thru the US history tech breakthrus have built new companies and destroyed old ones. Those breakthrus came because of R&D in all areas, academic, public laboratories and private ones.

The corporations are protecting their domain and they bought them a nation to do it, the most powerful nation on earth. Congress isn't doing what do because of stupidity.

And the legislative branch isn't the only branch doing it.

Right now one of the biggest threats facing us is climate change. And an effective response to that threat will destroy economic empires.

Read the report for the executive branch response to this global warming crisis? Written more like it's protecting our corporations and status quo than our people's survival.

(added on edit)

From cha in another thread (http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=798012):

Jay Carney (EOP) ✔ @PressSec
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Here's how President Obama's plan to #ActOnClimate helps states, cities, and towns prepare for climate change ? http://go.wh.gov/iJhqKu
5:18 AM - 6 May 2014
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[SamKnause]

6. .....and the Supreme Court

is terrible at science and understanding technology.

We have a bunch of old people who are out of touch with everything but have control over everything.

[seabeckind]

7. They're not out of touch...

you're thinking that they have the welfare of the people as their primary concern .

That's only partially true. Only some people.

[SamKnause]

11. I am aware of who they represent,

and I am not in that club.

That doesn't change the fact that they do not understand technology or science.

Thanks for your reply and input.

[newfie11]

8. Scary, infuriating, and sad

Third world country status soon if it's not already!

[redqueen]

9. K&R nt