Republican Proposal Puts 'National Interest' Requirement On US Science Agency 382
ananyo writes "Key members of the U.S. House of Representatives are seeking to require the National Science Foundation (NSF) to justify every grant it awards as being in the 'national interest.' The proposal, included in a draft bill from the Republican-led House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and obtained by Nature, would force the NSF to document how its basic science grants benefit the country. The requirement is similar to one in a discussion draft circulated in April by committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). At the time, scientists raised concerns that 'national interest' was defined far too narrowly. The current draft bill provides a more expansive definition that includes six goals: economic competitiveness, health and welfare, scientific literacy, partnerships between academia and industry, promotion of scientific progress, and national defense. But many believe that predicting the broader impacts of basic research is tantamount to gazing into a crystal ball. 'All scientists know it's nonsense,' says John Bruer, president of James S. McDonnell Foundation and former co-chair of an NSF task force that examined requiring scientists to state the 'broader impacts' of their work in grant applications."
reality check (Score:5, Informative)
From their own web site, the "...NSF's FY 2014 budget request is $7.626 billion"
$0,007.6 billon NSF budget. The Federal budget for 2014 is about $3.77 trillion (wikipedia) To put that on the same scale:
$3,770.0 billion total US budget. So the NSF budget is (I think I did the math correctly) 0.2% of the total budget. Less than 1/4 of one percent!
$3 billion is what the Navy is spending on a singe new Zumwalt destroyer (the next 4 in that fleet will cost $2.5B each) to fight nonexistent maritime enemies. That's two NSF budgets for ships that will do nothing but cost money to operate for the next 20 years.
I think this is the religious right pushing to get the US Government to stop funding science that disproves their church teachings and bible scripture.
Re:National Interest? (Score:4, Informative)
Maybe they should start by requiring the military to demonstrate how everything it spends is in the 'National Interest'.
I think you'd lose a lot of pork.
The military has been doing that for years. These days, the primary skill needed by general officers is planning equipment and staff reductions while keeping some ability to fight. It's quite eye-opening to watch the talks by senior military staff that make their way to YouTube, and see e.g. an admiral talking about how the Navy plans to lose a carrier battle group - not in war, but to congress.
For everyone who delights in America having a weaker military, don't worry, it's definitely coming. This NSF story is just one of hundreds of similar stories (but this one is News for Nerds).
We're broke. The congresscritters are cutting everything except checks mailed to supporters as fast as they can. I expect a 5-10 year reprieve soon here, as the economy is recovering and the tax base along with it, but at the next economic downturn it will all collapse.
Oh, well, the important stuff (other then the military) is done at the state and local level anyhow. Roads and schools and police and firefighting and so on can get by without a functional federal government (some would argue that's already the case).
Because... (Score:5, Informative)
Faraday's reply to William Gladstone, then British Chancellor of the Exchequer (minister of finance), when asked of the practical value of electricity (1850), as quoted in The Harvest of a Quiet Eye : A Selection of Scientific Quotations (1977), p. 56 (wikiquote)
Re:Impossible requirement (Score:5, Informative)
Republicans are doing this because every once in a while there's a news story about NSF funds being used to research duck erections or some other weird sounding science.
The story comes out, Republicans decry it as waste/fraud/abuse, then they rail against big government etc etc etc.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/04/duck-penis-study/63805/ [theatlanticwire.com]
Back in the 70s and 80s, a Democratic Senator used to give out Golden Fleece Awards [wikipedia.org].
It went pretty much as one would expect, with a lot of "fleecings" turning out to be useful programs
and one liable case that went to the Supreme Court, where the Senator lost and eventually settled out of court.
Re:Impossible requirement (Score:2, Informative)
This reminds me of Sarah Palin complaining about fruit fly research. People who don't know shit about science need to just get out of the way.
Re:Duck Penii (Score:4, Informative)
The correct plural is "penes", philistine. It's a Greek word and not Latin; in any case to be "penii" the singular form would have to be penius.
Or you could be /not/ pretentious and just say "penises".
Re:National Interest? (Score:5, Informative)
We're broke.
That's a fucking lie. The root of the problem is not collecting enough taxes from rich people. We used to do this.
Re:simple answer (Score:2, Informative)
there are lots of other reasons to sign up, too:
-lifetime VA benefits, i hear a lot of people bragging about the "percentage" theyll get when they retire
-college, of course. not just paying for courses, but ALSO being paid to SHOW UP to class.
-tax breaks, and someone to do your taxes for you for free (though 3/4 of the time that person is a Specialist who was voluntold and has never seen even a 1099-b before)
-family time, payday activities, "training" holidays, and other random days/time off.
-free housing, utilities, per diem, overseas pay
-if you make LTC or higher then the moment you retire, youre pretty much guaranteed to slide into a GS-12 or better federal civilian job that you have no idea how to do. "no colonel left behind"
-the right to complain about the sacrifice of deployment, despite the fact that many people dont deploy, many that do have mundane jobs there, you get deployment pay, and the fact that everyone signed up in the first place knowing that they'll most likely have to do it.
-"protected" status in the USA, everyone is an honored patriot regardless of what they did (though to be fair, a lot of people do deserve such recognition)
-mandated govt contract awards if you are a Veteran small business owner
Funding Rule Number One (Score:4, Informative)
Anyone who receives or hands out government money will always look at attempts to reduce said money as "asinine and short sighted".