# Eric Cantor - Republican Whip or Anti-science Republican Scourge? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628 "2010-12-10T04:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/21 "2010-12-10T16:10:57Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Cantor is widely lauded as the intellectual powerhouse of the GOP? Yeah, his faction, [the Cantor set](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantor_set), is pretty goddamn hoity-toity! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/22 "2010-12-10T17:34:44Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Something resonates with the fucking ignorant public where they want to say HERP DERP DERP LET’S NOT SEND A PROBE TO MARS, CAUSE THEN WE CAN FEED EVERYONE ON EARTH INSTEAD HERP DERP DERP!!! Am I the only one who read that in my Swedish Chef voice? I am, aren’t I? Um gesh de bork bork. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/23 "2010-12-10T17:35:54Z")
You might be the only one who _has_ a Swedish chef voice. ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/24 "2010-12-10T18:27:30Z")
Nonsense. My google language controls are set to “Bork, Bork, Bork” so that I can understand my search options. ---
**Author:** ![Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f475e1/32.png) [@Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pierrot_Le_Fou)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/25 "2010-12-10T19:51:33Z")
> [@](#): > > on grants the general public is not even qualified to evaluate The public is just as qualified to evaluate grants as they are to evaluate economic policy, tax policy, defense policy, diplomatic policy, constitutional rights, etc. Should the people have no say in those things? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/26 "2010-12-10T19:55:51Z")
> [@Pierrot\_Le\_Fou](#): > > The public is just as qualified to evaluate grants as they are to evaluate economic policy, tax policy, defense policy, diplomatic policy, constitutional rights, etc. > > Should the people have no say in those things? Economic policy, tax policy, defense policy, diplomatic policy, and constitutional rights are a good deal LESS technical and complicated than almost any given branch of hard science. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/27 "2010-12-10T20:01:48Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Eric Cantor, the republican House Majority Leader Elect, has launched [YouCut](http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/), a program in which people report what they construe as “wasteful spending” by Congress. Sounds awesome, right? Not so fast, my friend. They’re specifically going after the National Science Foundation, and attempting to say that the few paltry million dollars saved each year on grants the general public is not even qualified to evaluate is going to make a dent. :rolleyes: > > This is an antiscience Inquisition. Let the persecution begin, I guess. I don’t see the quote you provided at the YouCut link. Do you have any evidence that they are focusing specifically on science spending? My understanding of YouCut is that it’s very specifically not taking anything off the table - as it should be. What I see right now on the Youcut front page is a proposal to reduce printing costs, one to refocus the National Archive on its core mission, and a proposal to cut funding for digital conversion which has already been carried out - a plan that was also in Obama’s budget. Also, you guys may not understand what YouCut is about. It’s a system whereby people can log in and propose budget cuts, and then if the user base votes for the proposal in high enough numbers, the house Republicans will offer it up for an up and down vote in the house. As such, it’s entirely possible that programs will be offered up for cutting that Cantor doesn’t even agree with. He’s letting the people speak. It’s exactly the kind of transparent, open government initiative Obama promised, but never delivered. And in fact, here’s the entire list of winning ideas for cuts that have come out of this so far: > [@](#): > > Week One: Cut the New Non-Reformed Welfare Program ($25 Billion Savings) > > Week Two: Eliminate Federal Employee Pay Raise ($30 Billion Savings) > > Week Three: Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ($30 Billion Savings) > > Week Four: Sell Excess Federal Property ($15 Billion Savings) > > Week Five: Prohibit Hiring New IRS Agents to Enforce Health Care Law ($15 Billion Savings) > > Week Six: Taxpayer Subsidized Union Activities ($1.2 Billion Savings) > > Week Seven: Prohibit Stimulus Funding for Promotional Signage (Tens of Millions) > > Week Eight: Prohibit Sleeper Car Subsidies on Amtrak ($1.2 billion Savings) > > Week Nine: Bipartisan Proposal to Terminate AEITC ($1.1 billion Savings) > > Week Ten: Require Collection of Unpaid Taxes From Federal Employees ($1 billion Savings) > > Week Eleven: Reduce Government Employment to 2008 Levels ($35 billion Savings) > > Week Twelve: Terminate the TARP Program Prohibiting Any Additional Bailouts > > Week Thirteen: Terminate Taxpayer Funding of National Public Radio > > Week Fourteen: Eliminate Unnecessary Congressional Printing There’s not a SINGLE item in there that has anything to do with cutting research funding. Framing YouCut as an ‘anti-science inquisition’ is beyond ridiculous. It’s willfully or ignorantly misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/28 "2010-12-10T20:59:49Z")
Week Fifteen: maybe think about coming up with something less vague. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/29 "2010-12-10T21:00:54Z")
Those seem pretty specific to me for the most part. They’re not the “uh cut earmarks and waste” type. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/30 "2010-12-10T21:17:38Z")
Those are just the one-line summaries anyway. I clicked on one of them randomly, the Amtrack Sleeper car cut (week 8). Here’s the full text of the suggestion: > [@](#): > > While only 16 percent of Amtrak long-distance passengers opt for “sleeper class” travel, as opposed to coach class, federal taxpayers provide substantial extra subsidies for this first class travel. Passengers in long-distance first class travel are provided a sleeping room, many with a private toilet and shower, turn-down service, and complimentary entertainment and pre-paid food. Yet, Amtrak loses more than twice as much per passenger (an average of $396) for first class service as compared to coach class service. These losses are made up by taxpayers. This proposal would eliminate subsidies for first-class service and require Amtrak to provide any first class service at cost. I don’t know about you, but cutting subsidies to rich people so they can have turn-down service in their first-class sleeper car seems like a no-brainer to me. And look, science is unaffected! This thread is a perfect example of how partisans (on both the right and left) build up false world views and narratives that they come to believe represent fact. It looks to me like no one even bothered to read the link in the OP until I came along. You just filed it under “evidence of Republican anti-science hostility”. That helps support the narrative you’ve already got in your head, and it strengthens your partisan world view. Later, when another claim like that comes along, you’ll give it even less scrutiny because your narrative has already been enhanced by this ‘fact’. And it turns out, it’s complete bullshit. Not just that, but the OP is obvious bullshit to anyone who went to the modicum of trouble to click the link and even just skim the first page of that cite. But you never did, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/31 "2010-12-10T21:21:36Z")
Look about 3/4 down the page, under “YouCut Citizen Review”. I assure you that the quote I provided is a direct copy & paste from the web page. Just looked. It’s still up there as written. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/32 "2010-12-10T21:23:10Z")
And poof! There goes the deficit, just like that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/33 "2010-12-10T21:50:48Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Look about 3/4 down the page, under “YouCut Citizen Review”. I assure you that the quote I provided is a direct copy & paste from the web page. > > Just looked. It’s still up there as written. Okay, I saw that text under the list of _all the other cuts_ mentioned. Which you didn’t bother to note. Also, the link says that the ‘citizen review’ is simply _starting_ with the NSF and going through all other government agencies. There’s no targeting of science there. In addition, all it does is link to all the grants and ask people to review them and make suggestion for cutting any that they believe are questionable. Again, your OP is highly misleading. Although I will admit that at least the text you linked to is there. But it’s entirely clear from the tone of the entire site and the wording of the ‘Citizen Review’ that science is _not_ being singled out, let alone being evidence of an “antiscience inquisition”. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/34 "2010-12-10T21:59:00Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > Good, we don’t want your socialist commie-loving science over here in the good ole US-of-A anyway! Thank you! Now we can get to the bottom of those DNA payments the government is making to the grizzly bears. Look at the migration pattern of any typical Canadian grizzly. When Spring comes, and the cubs are born, what side of the border are they on? They’re using your tax dollars to make payments to anchor bears! ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/35 "2010-12-10T22:09:45Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I don’t know about you, but cutting subsidies to rich people so they can have turn-down service in their first-class sleeper car seems like a no-brainer to me. Ha ha - clearly, you have never traveled in an Amtrak sleeper car. Ultra-luxury for the rich is not exactly how I would characterize it. When they say “turndown service,” they mean they leave the seats in the “bed” position for embarking passengers. The “private toilet” also does duty as the step stool for the top bunk and the nightstand. (not that I necessarily disagree that the sleeper car fare subsidies should be eliminated) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/36 "2010-12-10T22:17:30Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Again, your OP is highly misleading. Although I will admit that at least the text you linked to is there. But it’s entirely clear from the tone of the entire site and the wording of the ‘Citizen Review’ that science is _not_ being singled out, let alone being evidence of an “antiscience inquisition”. [http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/Review.htm](http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/Review.htm) > [@](#): > > We are launching an experiment - the first YouCut Citizen Review of a government agency. Together, we will identify wasteful spending that should be cut and begin to hold agencies accountable for how they are spending your money. > > **First** , **we will take a look at the National Science Foundation** (NSF) - Congress created the NSF in 1950 to promote the progress of science. The fact is that items like climate research have been called questionable research by most republicans. IMHO saying that only inappropriate grants will be allowed is to leave a lot of space for the anti-science groups to not only control the agenda but to also drive it. I still remember what Dr Dean Edell said on KGO radio when then the Newt Gingrith congress attempted to also de-fund research that was deemed by he and other politicians to be useless, he mentioned IIRC an example of research what was deemed useless by the politicians, and the doctor said that if that research had lost funding we would had lost the information gained that was invaluable a few years later on finding a new manufacturing process that was worth millions later. Just like when Sarah Palin disparaged research on the fruit flies, it is more often than not that the politician is an ignoramus. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/37 "2010-12-10T23:07:37Z")
I meant to say that: “…saying that only inappropriate grants will \*\*not \*\*be allowed…” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/38 "2010-12-10T23:30:20Z")
They didn’t mention ANY grants. They simply provided a link to all of them and offered _citizens_ a voice in determining which ones should be funded. That doesn’t means they’ll be defunded - it just means that if enough people agree, they’ll put it up for a vote. Isn’t this exactly the kind of government transparency reform the Democrats have been clamoring for? If the White House had put up a similar site, only asking for citizen input as to what additional funding there should be, you guys would be singing its praises. Can you at least agree that the link cited in the OP is not evidence of an ‘antiscience inquisition’, or that Eric Cantor is an ‘anti-science Republican Scourge’? But while we’re on the subject of attacking science, would anyone like to comment on the [anti-science actions](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19808-were-waiting-mr-president.html) of the Obama administration? > [@](#): > > A US government report on a pressing environmental issue is edited to falsely imply that scientists had peer-reviewed and supported the central policy recommendation. Almost 1 in 4 government scientists working on food safety say they have been asked by their bosses to exclude or alter technical information in scientific documents during the past year. > > These incidents sound as if they come from the dark days of George W. Bush’s presidency, when complaints about political interference in government science reached a crescendo. But in fact, both refer to the behaviour of the current US administration, led by a president who famously promised to “restore science to its rightful place” in his inauguration speech of January 2009. The quote is from **NewScientist** magazine - not exactly a Republican mouthpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/39 "2010-12-10T23:58:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Week Eleven: Reduce Government Employment to 2008 Levels ($35 billion Savings) I like how [this one](http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/week11.htm) homes right in on the pernicious problem of overemployment that’s plaguing America today. You know what’s wrong with this country? Too many damn people with jobs! > [@](#): > > The federal government has added approximately 188,000 new employees (excluding temporary census workers) since 2008. Implementing a policy whereby the government only hires one person for every two who leave civilian government service until the workforce is reduced to pre-Obama levels would result in significant savings for taxpayers. Under this proposal the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs are exempt from this requirement, and the President is provided flexibility to distribute newly hired employees by need. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628/40 "2010-12-11T00:16:33Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Also, you guys may not understand what YouCut is about. It’s a system whereby people can log in and propose budget cuts, and then if the user base votes for the proposal in high enough numbers, the house Republicans will offer it up for an up and down vote in the house. As such, it’s entirely possible that programs will be offered up for cutting that Cantor doesn’t even agree with. He’s letting the people speak. It’s exactly the kind of transparent, open government initiative Obama promised, but never delivered. The problem with YouCut is twofold. First, it encourages a focus on small budget items (reducing government printing costs, prohibiting stimulus funding for commercial signage), rather than the big four things you’ll need to actually balance the budget (cutting defense, Social Security, and Medicare, and raising taxes) Second, it’s the Republican whip’s office that decides which of the suggestions go up to get voted on, and I have my doubts that they’d put up government cost cutting suggestions that go against the party’s suggestions. If someone put up a proposal suggesting immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance, I don’t think that would be put on the list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-cantor-republican-whip-or-anti-science-republican-scourge/563628.md?page=3)