White House Claims Congress Is Shortchanging R&D

Abstract

Competing visions of how the government should spend the budget surpluses being generated by the powerful U.S. economy are beginning to emerge from the White House and Congress. The Administration would like to see reinvestments— including more money for government R&D programs—whereas House and Senate leaders want to return at least some of the money to taxpayers via tax cuts. Those viewpoints, while not entirely new, were put in stark relief in a midsummer status report on R&D appropriations issued by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP). In a clear swipe at the Republican leadership in both houses, OSTP Director Neal F. Lane said, Congress has currently stalled our progress toward our shared national goals and toward balance in a healthy R&D portfolio precisely at the moment in history when we can best afford to invest in America's future. Lane's comments were made in a letter sent to a number of ...