We Need a Less Controlling Federal Government

In the January 28 issue of Chemical and Engineering News, Susan Morrisey discusses the financial problems of the federal government. She covers the basic attitude of Congress kicking the can down the road on the national debt limitation and inability to develop an appropriate budget.

However, she says that most of this is not particularly applicable to science. In spite of that comment, she also says that, "A government shutdown means federal agencies will be closed. Agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency will go dark, and then those in the chemical community who interact with them will be out of luck".

A government shutdown is unlikely, but it is an interesting speculation. I take issue with her on the last part of her statement that chemical companies "who interact with them will be out of luck". This implies that chemical companies have some advantage in dealing with the federal government. The reverse is true. Every aspect of those government agencies is a negative controlling factor. Their elimination would be helpful to society in general.

More specifically, the National Science Foundation would be unable to continue its grant program of taxpayer money to University professors for research which is of little significance or damaging to the public. A shutdown of the Department of Energy would mean that there are no restrictions for exploration and production of oil on federal lands. Finally, it would stop the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing its daily restrictive rules concerning operations of industry.

Too bad that we will not have a government shutdown. It could be very favorable to the development of the country, in spite of the negative implication implied by Susan Morrisey.

In that same article, Secretary of Defense Panetta was quoted as, "I think that there's an attitude that governing isn't necessarily good politics, that gridlock and confrontation is good politics. And I think we pay a price for that." I completely take issue with that statement. We have been traveling headlong down the wrong path in excessive government control, and it is past time for confrontation to change that program.