If we are to arrest the downward spiral, we cannot allow states to fail. When states go bankrupt, they cut back on things like law enforcement, road repairs, health and human services, and libraries. Those are vital for a functioning society. If you want a great depression, let's start letting states go bankrupt.
As far as $51B on renewable energy, I think it is a drop in the bucket on what we need to invest. It's far less than what our government spend every year on the oil industry. This is a downpayment on righting that imbalance.
As far as broadband glut, not by a long shot. In fact, the US is lagging behind all of our major competitors in broadband penetration. This is sad considering we invented the Internet and most of the advanced broadband technologies. In today's world, broadband access equals a higher standard of living. Investing in broadband today is like investing in railroads and highways in past decades. It's a no-brainer, if we are to advance our economy.
As far as increasing our investments in science R&D, many of the major innovations (like the Internet) have come from a virtuous partnership of public and private investment in R&D. Many of the key breakthroughs in technology come from university students working with government grants. Without those, science innovation plunges. This has been the key to our prosperity for decades now. Under Bush, that spending dried up and has dramatically impacted the pace of innovation in science and technology in the last decade. Time to ramp it up again, if we are to remain a technology and economic powerhouse. |
