© Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times/APUS Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky)
On 29 July 2022, three Republican US Senators (Rand Paul, KY; Ted Cruz, TX; Richard Burr, NC)
asked the Director of the National Science Foundation to provide information on a variety of concerns, ranging from how decisions on funding research grants are made, to how the NSF handles political conflicts of interest among the scientists it supports.
Good for them. Since its founding in 1950, the NSF has
drifted far from its original mission and vision: to support basic research in universities. Among the aims was to insulate the process of scientific discovery from meddlesome politicians.
No more: the NSF has harnessed itself to blatantly political aims, from the dubious "greening" of our society and nation, to the toxic agenda of "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion". The Senators are right to lift the lid on these shenanigans. They are wasting taxpayers' money.
That said, the Senators are barking up the wrong tree. The NSF, as ripe a target as it might seem, is comparatively a small part of a bigger problem of corruption of science. Here is my humble advice to the Senators about what to target.
Comment: More from The Washington Times: