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Stimulus I Can Believe In

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Companies should invest in their own innovation-driven programs

By Jeff Reinke, Editorial Director, PD&D

Jeff ReinkePresident Obama recently announced at the National Academy of  Sciences’ annual meeting that he planned to allocate three percent of the gross domestic product to research and development. This represents the largest commitment to scientific research in U.S. history, and in more real-world terms represents a better than $400 billion investment.

Now, whether or not this is a wise financial decision, I don’t know. Unlike our “leaders” in D.C. my check book isn’t allowed to function with the negative sign in front of it. However, such a pledge does offer a couple of unique points that I feel go in favor of the Obama administration.

First, he actually made good on a campaign promise. Granted, pledging to spend billions of taxpayer dollars has never been a problem for any politician, but allocating said funds towards initiatives that will benefit both capitalistic and social causes is unique. Those who would usually scream in self-serving defiance of corporate welfare from such an initiative are hamstrung because this funding will also help educational institutions and venture capitalist-dependent start-ups work towards better addressing health and energy concerns through new and innovative products, designs and approaches.

Additionally, the heart-hardened right-wingers that I’m prone to associate with are left without our trusty battle cry of how the liberals are raising taxes to fund more social causes. This type of initiative will help corporate America continue in the quest to pull our sagging economy through these tougher times with better, more innovative offerings that can help on a number of societal and economic fronts. Additionally, one would hope that job creation and increased spending would be a natural side effect of funding such new endeavors.

Secondly, this marks a government investment that flies in the face of previous bailouts targeted at banks and automakers that have a weak, at best, track record when it comes to innovative thinking and financial responsibility. I guess my hope is that these types of funds will be reserved for those with new ideas on how to improve energy efficiency or push developments in the electronics, communication, transportation and medical fields in helping the U.S. to be at the center of developing and manufacturing the greatest products in the world, instead of simply being its primary consumer.

Granted, it’s difficult to say right now whether this type of historical investment will pan out down the road, but I feel a little better about this use of my tax dollars, as opposed to easing the unaccountable into bankruptcy. In this rare instance I find myself hoping that more companies will actually follow the example set by the Obama administration and look to invest in their own internal innovation-driven programs. Who knows, your current project may even be able to benefit from some of these new funding initiatives.

At the risk of continuing to preach to the choir, beat my drum, mount my soapbox, or whatever other cliché you prefer, these types of investments are what will bring this country back. My feeling is that if the greased wheels of our bureaucracy can understand that, although it remains to be seen if they will actually bring these “pledges” to fruition, just imagine how much better and more effective such an initiative could run if implemented by those who will actually be doing the work.


Some of the $400 million in R&D stimulus funds out of the $727 billion stimulus package went to EMC2 for work on the WB-8 Polywell Fusion experiments.

Never heard of them? Why am I not surprised.
Posted by: MSimon at 5/26/2009 9:31 PM


Whenever you see a politician spending opm (other people's money,) ask yourself where the money will come from. In a free country it's not for the President to say how much of GDP should be allocated to R&D (or toliet paper, or anything else.) Read the US Constitution, it's not an enumerated power of the government.

But let's assume that the constitutionality is not an issus; after all, it has been pretty much ignored for 70 years or so. The question you need to ask is where the $400 billion will come from. When the government spends money it gets it from one of three sources: taxes, borrowing, or printing more money. In all three cases, the money is taken from someone else. This "someone else" (the person who earned it) won't have it to spend on whatever they thought it should be spent on. Maybe they wanted to buy a burger and fries, or maybe they would've spent it on R&D. We'll never know.

The point is that what is happening here is a loss of Freedom. President B.O. is making our choices for us. And I for one think this not a good thing.
Posted by: TucsonTom at 6/8/2009 2:49 PM


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