Republicans oppose stimulus-funded science projects
Ashleigh Dorman
A major controversy between the Republicans and the Democrats right now is the issue of implementing stimulus-funded science projects. In “Cheap Shots,” the criticism from the Republicans is somewhat overcritical because they are disapproving of the stimulus-funded projects without showing valid evidence that they have done their research. In the second article, “Stimulus and Jobs: What the Fight’s All About,” more focus is put on the question of the number of jobs generated from the stimulus-funded science projects. The second article is more convincing than the first because it explains how the projects are benefiting the unemployment rate by increasing the number of available jobs while the first article doesn’t give any valid reasons as to why the projects should be opposed.
The stimulus-funded projects are questionable to Republicans because they seem to have not done their research on the benefits from the projects, according to “Cheap Shots.” “But a look at McCain and Cobum’s discussion of the science projects on their list suggests that their analyses are at best superficial, and at worst just a series of cheap shots.” (Nature) The two Republican senators released Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues, where they shoot down every stimulus project and the reasons associated with performing the study. John McCain and Tom Cobum talk down every project instead of giving their listeners the benefits the scientific community reaps from performing the experiments, like in the “Monkeys Get High for Science” study at Wake Forest University. “The ultimate goal is more effective treatment for addicts. However, McCain and Cobum mention none of this, instead asking “how studying drug-crazed primates would improve the national economy.” (Nature)
With the approval of stimulus-funded science projects comes the opportunity of new jobs, which is a positive gain for the economy with how high unemployment rates are. “Stimulus and Jobs: What the Fight’s All About” says that more jobs should become available with all the stimulus money. The Republicans, including McCain and Cobum, disapprove of this idea. This party says that it has not furthered the economy in any way and is certainly not helping lower the unemployment rates. “The White House also says the Recovery Act has created 2 million jobs…The administration says the unemployment would be much worse if the stimulus program didn't exist. A year ago, the economy was losing 691,000 per month, on average, in the first quarter. In December, the number was down to 85,000 jobs lost.” (CNNMoney) This type of data is more helpful to show the effects of the stimulus-funded projects and how they can help improve the economy.
The thesis statement for “Cheap Shots” is “Republican criticism of stimulus-funded science projects is ill-informed and wide of the mark.” (Nature) John McCain and Tom Cobum are obviously against the issue but do not give valid information to convince others to be against the stimulus-funded science projects in their report, Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects that Give Taxpayers the Blues. “The Obama administration credits the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with turning around the economy and bringing America out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Without it, things would have been a lot worse.” (CNNMoney) The second article is more convincing than the first because it provides substantial statistics of unemployment rates and the number of created jobs from the stimulus-funds, unlike the first article that mainly disapproves of the way the Republicans criticize the issue with no support or evidence.
No comments:
Post a Comment