Science Far from Center Stage in Obama’s State of the Union

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post/science-far-from-center-stage-in-obama-s-state-of-the-union/

I remember the buz word in industry was to find the “low hanging fruit,” once I briefed a room full of executives and told them, “If they look for low-hanging fruit for too long; management will grow short arms.”

I’m not starting this off by saying that funding our government is easy and we can take tons of money from some other pot. I am saying that I’m tired of ‘our’ congress spending ‘our’ money on line items to get them re-elected and to satisfy their funding sources.

I see no vision in our budgets. I see too much spending but little investing, I do see spending and tax loop holes to benefit the minority not the majority.

No kidding I’m a die-hard republican. Don’t construe that to imply that I agree with the conservative wing of the GOP. I believe in the republican concepts of small government, investment in the future and that society is helped best by a growing economy more than a growing government. I believe in the beliefs of the ‘old GOP’.

My political views aside, because they’re irrelevant. The U.S. needs to invest in education and getting younger students interested in science. The government’s responsibility is to give us a long-term vision that we can focus on. When Kennedy said, “Land on the moon by 1969” he created the greatest growth in education and technology that paid for itself a hundred times and it solved many social ills through growth and investment.

Once again, I’m disappointed that we don’t have any real commitment to growing technology. We have words and initiatives but no goals.

I suggest we create a super committee to meet and fix all of our problems. Maybe we should increase spending to study the problem, write an impact statement, present opinions, re-study the problem, double the budget, write another report… I think you get the picture.

All of this frustrates me, because I’m an engineer. I’ve worked on the best technology in the history of the world. I’m optimistic about our future and I want a road to get us there. I’m excited about students learning science, math and biology; not mid 18 th century French literature; which we all know is in high demand in the work place.

 

Ray Jay Perreault

Science Fiction