IE. He did not know that those labs existed.
He was unaware the majority universities of his state hosted leading researchers of ants. This is surprising? No matter how large it is, the subject matter is, for most folks, pretty esoteric; even unapproachable. Research into super-organisms may make dollars and cents, but it's unglamorous, and unlikely to rise to the attention of anybody not closely tied to either the issue, or the university's science department.
It is a peer reviewed process and frankly the congress has Zero competence or even authority to decide which proposals get funding. If they start getting involved, science becomes a political hot potato. Now I suppose they could de-fund the agencies... That however would be a very bad idea.
Reducing the funding given to the agencies which make those decisions appears to be exactly what Coburn and McCain have in mind. It's imperfect to try and target specific projects by proxy, but all they can do.
And let's be realistic: if taxpayer money is flowing into science, it's going to become a political issue. The science itself should not be politicized, but there is no reason that the benefits -- or lack thereof -- should not receive scrutiny from those who steward public funds.
Limited information? He clearly doesn't know anything on the issue. No, he was trying to score political points by talking about sparing taxpayers dollars to research that he's deemed useless despite knowing nothing about it. If he knew nothing about the topic and of what the research was good for, why did he comment at all, had he not decided that it was a safe topic to use as money going down a hole by egghead researchers?
He's a politician. Why are you so surprised that he rushed to render judgment? Senators and Congressmen stake their careers on making gut calls; we tend to perceive those who ask for more time, or all the facts, as wishy-washy. I don't like it, but I also don't see how we're going to fix it anytime soon. It's unremarkable, at this point.
Much of the tarring of the grants appears to be valid, on the face of it. A $1 million grant to secure a dinner cruise out of Chicago?
Those resources got to agencies with experts who decide who gets the money based on a review process. That's why, for example, my group writes grants to the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. If jackasses like McCain close the coffers because they are profoundly ignorant of how money is used and what research does, then alot of important research is going to just run dry because there is no one else to fund them.
The only thing they can do is turn down the flow of money, hoping that it encourages what they would consider "wiser" decisions on the part of the bodies that dispense that money. Again, with the possible exception of the scientific studies coming onto the chopping block, some of which may not, in fact, be worthwhile, I don't see much to complain about. The consensus here appears to be that all science is worthwhile, all the time. You don't seem to be taking into account that the federal government has plenty of other competing, urgent debts.
Some science is a luxury we may, or may not, be able to afford, depending on the circumstances.
Except that many Republicans absolutely DO feel that way. My addressing to you was the notion that paleontology was somehow what's called a "stamp collecting" science, one that is interesting but not particularly useful, not that you are a creationist (even though you use the limited political power you have to further Creationism). That is not true, of course, but you seem to be unaware of that.
Prove that McCain and Coburn feel that way. Prove that I do. If you can't, we can dismiss your remark as non-sequitor.
I don't use the limited political power I have to further Creatonism; I use it to vote for individuals whom I think will address correctly those issues which I think are most important and most superable. If they support the Creationist's agenda -- and they tend to -- that's unfortunate fallout.
I would like to see some discussion of the practical benefits of paleontology, should you know of any. I have to guess that there might have been some breakthroughs in our understanding of geology arising from the search for, and discovery of, the bones of animals recently and long extinct, but nothing in the way of medical breakthroughs. I am, however, aware of a recent venture by American tycoon John Hammond in Costa Rica...
Yet he is not qualified to make that determination, because he knows nothing about what research is good and deserves funding and what is not. His snide little comment about the superorganism research demonstrates this. Someone who struggled to do college algebra at the Naval Academy has no place saying anyone's research isn't worthy of existing. Yet, there he went.
The Naval Academy is, as I understand it, one of the most rigorous educational institutions on earth, although John McCain did not achieve high marks or honors.
More to the point, you seem incapable of understanding that McCain has a responsibility to decide whether we ought to spend money on research grants, or other priorities, including servicing the national debt. He isn't depriving money from "The Sciences" for no reason other than because he is a ghoulish Republican.
Your claim that he is fallible because he did not achieve high marks in school is spurious. I trust you would not automatically credit my opinions with greater weight than anyone else's on this board, though I graduated from Johns Hopkins
summa cum laude? Shall I snub my nose at those who do not have a Master's Degree, though one member of this community previously evinced shock that I do not. I do not expect John McCain to know much about good and bad research; I expect him to spend money in a reasonable manner, balancing probable outcomes. As far as I can tell, much of the money in question in the original article was badly misspent. McCain and Coburn may eventually fire from the hip; there could be collateral damage in the Academies. If it is too great, they will have won my criticism. If not, my praise.
Commander of the MFS Darwinian Selection Method (sexual)