As a taxpayer I'm tired of funding everyone's project. Especially in private institutions which have billions under management and are ran like hedge funds, and not increasing their intake. Time to fix the deficit and kill off our debt.

If the rebuttal is "yeah but advancements improve the economy" -- The private sector can fund projects which are opportunities with an economic basis, they can take the risk and they can see if it is profitable in the market (ie beneficial)

If the rebuttal is "How will America stay competitive?" We cant seem to keep trade secrets anyways. [1]

[1] - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64206950

Edit: Also the 4 years at a time thing is probably a better choice too, because it makes them less twitchy politically. You get your 4 years, regardless of who's team is in office. This should be a win regardless of your affiliation.

> The private sector can fund projects which are opportunities with an economic basis

You've inherited a nation built atop research which, at the time it was done, had no immediate pathway for economic viability. The groundbreaking research out of Bell Labs and DARPA provide many examples, among many more from other institutions, to support this claim which changed the entire world in addition to our nation for the better.

To think that this research would have been the product of economic incentivization is folly.

We, as a nation, have been spoiled by these gifts of our past and, like so many spoiled trust fund children, are flushing our inheritance down the toilet.

It's a fine sentiment but there are a dozen different game theory principles that contribute these investments never getting made when left in the hands of the private sector. If you're upset about not reaping any of the benefits of your tax dollars, just buy the S&P 500. Of course you don't want the government investing in bad ideas but that doesn't seem to be your sticking point.

FWIW I don't think the status quo is ideal, the government should be getting more credit for and more value out of research that results in profit for private companies so it can invest in and lessen the tax burden of future research.

How are we going to produce all of the basic research that is non-excludable & non-rival? What incentive do companies have to produce results like this?

The biotech industry is already tricky, with long lag times and a low probability of success. More risk just increases the discount rate and lowers the present value, making it an even less appealing investment.

> The private sector can fund projects which are opportunities with an economic basis

The private sector can only fund easy low hanging fruit productization projects (Tesla, Apple, SpaceX, …) once the hard public fundamental research and infrastructure (Internet, Rocket Science, Physics, etc…) that has no short term economic value investment is done.

So only opportunities with a path to economic profitability should be researched?

That is a very narrow view of advancing society

As a taxpayer you should go after wasteful military spending, not scientific research.

> As a taxpayer I'm tired of funding everyone's project.

Some Americans took a hard look at the state of America as the world's leader in science, technology, and industry, with a ton of cutting-edge research attracting the smartest from all over the world, and decided "This sucks, can we go back to the simpler times where everyone had a factory job and they all looked and spoke like me?"

...And they might just get their wish, from how it looks.

>As a taxpayer

So like everyone else in the world that pays taxes?

The response (usually) is “OK but whatabout the $X billion we spent on the military?”

Which isn’t wrong necessarily, but it doesn’t answer why or whether we should be spending so much money on everything else

fix the deficit and kill off the debt? he added $2tn by giving tax cuts to corporations...

> We cant seem to keep trade secrets anyways.

Zero sum thinking.

It is possible that we can improve the entire world and ourselves, but for many the reasoning is "It's not enough that I should win: others must also lose."

1) Tax dollars don't fund the government. The government funds the government. That's what "Fiat currency" means.

2) How do you feel about the money going to ICE?