Congress Must Reduce Funding to Agencies Doling out Research Grants

C&E News has in their July 25 issue an article entitled, "Aiding Innovation in Tough Fiscal Times". At a forum in June, researchers said, "The US is losing its competitive edge as a result of lack of funding for innovation by both government and private investors." If you were a researcher receiving a government handout as a grant, wouldn't you be tempted to say the same thing, especially since the Republican House is looking for ways to reduce expenditures?

Francis Collins, Director of the National Institute of health (NIH) said that NIH used to fund roughly one of every three grant proposals that it received, but with budget constraints it will fund only one of every six proposals. This doesn't really tell us anything, because with more public knowledge of the existence of the gravy train, there may be many more proposals than previous. But if he is right in his prognosis of reduced expenditures, Hooray!

Angela Belcher, a professor at MIT and an entrepreneur said venture capitalists were very helpful in the early stages of her career. That's fine, but not an excuse for government involvement. Private venture capitalists are investing their own money and look very critically at the possibilities of return. Government agency investors are investing taxpayer money and are bound to have less consideration for risk.

Collins also said that it is critical that the US cultivate its own scientists. No argument here. However, government does not make scientists. Scientists are developed through natural curiosity and talent followed by education, usually in colleges and universities. There's no question that government grants will aid scientists in further scientific developments, but in most cases young scientists have no concept of what is necessary for the real world. They are guided mostly by curiosity, wherein their impractical projects do not justify taxpayer funding. Government agencies are not in a position to make those determinations. Private companies and venture capitalists are.

Congress must reduce the budgets of these various federal agencies that have been doling out taxpayer funds for ridiculous projects. We never could afford it, but it has now become a critical issue.