Practical Control of Federal R&D

    The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an agency of the federal government. It has blown and continues to blow billions of taxpayer dollars on worthless projects under the general term of Research and Development. For example, two projects are monetary grants to universities for topics, such as the International Criminal Court and The history of Scientific Conservation in South America.
    I have been attacking this ridiculous expenditure of taxpayer money to universities for some time and perhaps coincidentally, we finally see some progress.
    Congratulations to Rep. Lamar S Smith (Texas) Chair of the House Of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee, who is circulating a draft bill that would require the NSF Director to adhere to three new criteria for every research grant. They are:
        1. The project must be in the interests of the US.
        2. The project must address problems of utmost importance to society at large.
        3. The project doesn't duplicate other work at NSF or other federal agencies.
    While I have for some time been advocating the elimination of all Research and Development grants to universities by federal agencies, this is a step in the right direction. It is not that I am opposed to Research and Development, but rather that such R&D should be performed by private entities either in-house or through contract with universities. The major purpose of privately supported R&D is that companies pay close attention to how their money is spent, as opposed to the federal government, which merely concentrates on spending the maximum amount without clear direction of purpose.
    If Rep. Lamar's draft becomes a bill, which eventually passes through the Senate and President, the number of NSF grants and the cost thereof will be reduced, and we will be more effectively traveling in the direction of reduced federal budgets.