The America Competes Act: Business-As-Usual in Washington

Brian Riedl / May 12, 2010

This week, the House of Representatives will vote on the $86 billion “America Competes Act.” Just a few years ago, an $86 billion authorization would have been considered real money, even by Washington standards. But in this new era of trillion-dollar spending bills (and, not coincidentally, trillion-dollar budget deficits), an $86 billion bill is not even considered major legislation.

Yet this provides another opportunity for lawmakers to draw the line on spending and deficits. Members of Congress typically bemoan runaway spending and deficits, even as they continue rubber stamping nearly every spending bill that comes to the floor. Rhetoric about runaway spending, unsustainable budget deficits, and “hard choices” is not enough. For the United States to avoid the fate of Greece, lawmakers must learn how to say “no” to new spending.

The America Competes Act would reauthorize and expand government research and development (R&D) programs such as the National Science Foundation, the Energy Department’s Office of Science, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Economic Development Administration. Yet total R&D funding already expanded 64 percent faster than inflation last decade, to $165 billion. The R&D programs reauthorized in this bill would receive an additional 30 percent increase by 2015. (more…)