Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Republican Rep. Lamar Smith took to the op-ed pages this week to demand America spend money on scientific research efforts. No, really. I'm not making this up.
Well, maybe I'm making it up a little. Rep. Lamar indeed wrote an editorial ostensibly premised on how America really ought to spend money on research and development, but it was more specifically focused on how we can't do that because instead we keep caring for all these damn poor people:
Excluding national defense, the government’s largest expenses are for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And spending on these programs is projected to skyrocket in the coming years largely because of the rising cost of health care and an aging U.S. population. Increases in entitlement spending will place enormous pressure on other budget priorities, including our nation’s science funding. […]
[U]ntil we find a way to reform entitlement programs and address the elephant in the room — mandatory spending — science agencies could continue to see shrinking budgets, and America’s status as the world leader in science and innovation will be in danger.
Here's a thought experiment. Let's suppose that we slashed all of those programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and we'll just throw in the cthulhuesque Obamacare for good measure—down to exactly the levels the Republican House demanded. The whole thing, every cut they want, might as well toss food stamps (sorry, we call it
SNAP now) in there too. Raise your hand if you think Rep. Lamar Smith and the other House Republicans would then use some of that money to increase
scientific research.
Yeah, I'll give you a minute to stop laughing.
As far as I can tell, Lamar Smith can't even bring himself to argue for increasing the nation's science budget. He's just arguing that the only way we can even keep the paltry level of support for science we have now is to cut aid to old/sick/poor Americans. Given that Republicans like Smith have gone to rather aggressive lengths to harm existing research programs, the overall effect is of Smith fiddling with a matchbook while telling you that it'd be a real shame if something were to happen to this nice place you've built, but I'm fairly sure that's exactly what Smith had in mind.