[ RadSafe ] political funding of science/ was:Radon: POWERFULLY associated with LESS lung cancer by B.Cohen

[Glenn R. Marshall]

I have searched the U.S. Constitution and can find no authority given to the federal government to fund or engage in scientific research (except maybe as it pertains to funding an army or navy or setting weights and measures).  Individual states may fund research--usually through universities, but the federal government's authority in this area is limited to the issuance of patents and copyrights.  

Don't shoot me; I'm just reading what it says.

Glenn Marshall


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Brian Riely
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 2:08 PM
To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] political funding of science/ was:Radon: POWERFULLY associated with LESS lung cancer by B.Cohen

The difference between an economic football and a political football is that if it is not real science, there will be no economic return because it will not work.  A private company could not survive if it put it put its resources in developing a perpetual motion machine.  On the hand, political footballs are agenda driven and it does not matter if the science is real as long as the money spent on the science generates votes from the public.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Clayton J Bradt
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 1:39 PM
To: sjd at swcp.com; radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] political funding of science/ was:Radon: POWERFULLY associated with LESS lung cancer by B.Cohen

Steve Dapra writes:


"The problem is that politics funds science, thus transmuting science into a political football.  Real science can raise its own funding.  It does not need to leech off the taxpayer."