An article worth reading from Peter Sinclair’s ‘climate change crock of the week’. Republicans have been known to mis-characterize science research projects that the federal government has funded. Rand Paul’s proposal goes a step further–it would give government entities the power to veto research they didn’t think was worthwhile. the Devil’s in the Details, but people should take this seriously.And (as Sinclair notes)” A Libertarian often at odds with the leadership of his own party, Paul is not known as an alliance builder, and so far his bill has no co-sponsors. At the same time, most proposed legislation never even gets a hearing, so Paul at least has cleared that hurdle.”
Senate Republicans have launched a new attack on peer review by proposing changes to how the U.S. government funds basic research.
New legislation introduced this week by Senator Rand Paul (R–KY) would fundamentally alter how grant proposals are reviewed at every federal agency by adding public members with no expertise in the research being vetted. The bill (S.1973) would eliminate the current in-house watchdog office within the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, and replace it with an entity that would randomly examine proposals chosen for funding to make sure the research will “deliver value to the taxpayer.” The legislation also calls for all federal grant applications to be made public.
Paul made his case for the bill yesterday as chairperson of a Senate panel with oversight over federal spending. The hearing, titled “Broken Beakers: Federal Support for Research,” was a platform for Paul’s claim that there’s…
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The Brooklyn Culture Jam 