Why is Congress so clueless about tech? Because they fired all their experts 20 years ago

boing
21

Agreed!!! Really hard to vote out some of these clowns due to the gerrymandering they have done to keep their position forever.

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22

Is everyone entirely ignorant of the National Academies? They’re still there for Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and they’re charged with advising congress.

I think the first two would be able to help alleviate some of the listed concerns here.

I’m not sure where the OTA’s jurisdiction and the NAE & NAS would overlap or not.

Regardless, it’s my experience that legislators don’t realize they have a collection of the nation’s best researchers at their disposal to answer questions for them.

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23

I’m 21 and love VCRs and I’ve still never bothered to set the clock on one.

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The Academies don’t quite respond to Congressional inquiries with the promptness of the OTA, since they have a much larger bailiwick to deal with.

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25

Nah. The age thing had currency, once, but that was before seniors like my mum started building web sites for their quilting guilds and whatnot.

Put it this way: the computer whiz kids who played Pong and chatted on BBSs are now in their 40s and 50s. There just isn’t an excuse anymore

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26

Maybe if there weren’t so many boomers still in office…

Honestly though, most in congress take a law and not a science path, which has more to do with it I think.

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27

And to be elected their message has to have an emotional appeal, not necessarily a rational one.

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28

Good point. Still, I wish more people would heed CP Snow’s Two Solitudes argument and take a more holistic approach to their education.

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Our VCR’s 12:00 blinks, so I put a video tape in front of it. Works great.

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30

At least we have some sort of “smaller” government.

Now excuse me while I think of fire held in a man’s hand.
Fire, a dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips at the burning point of a cigarette.

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31

They are all in their 40s now probably being asked about why somebody’s iphone wont connect to the exchange server.

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32

Damn, I want a candy crapping unicorn now.

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NASA is another classic example of politicians keeping a program as long as they can make political hay off of it, but as soon as their constituents want the money diverted somewhere else (or aren’t looking), they drop it like a hot rock. Regardless of the benefits that have accrued from it meanwhile. The EPA likewise.

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34

Republicans have cut pretty much all flavors of congressional staff, including not just the CRS and OTA but also the Government Accountability Office, and the staff for standing committees. According to The Washington Monthly a major effect has been to empower lobbyists:

Much of the research, number crunching, and legislative wordsmithing that used to be done by Capitol Hill staffers working for the government is now being done by outside experts, many of them former Hill staffers, working for lobbying firms, think tanks, consultancies, trade associations, and PR outfits. This has strengthened the already-powerful hand of corporate interests in shaping legislation, and given conservative groups an added measure of influence over Congress, as the shutdown itself illustrates.

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35

There is some kind of excuse, but it’s not age. My dad’s had a work-related computer for at least 33 years, while I went through college having barely used a computer at all (though I caught up after I got out). Meanwhile he has relatives younger than him, who spent their careers working in offices, yet can’t compose a legible email.

Now I can’t remember what my point was… But I’m thinking there was some congress critter who said some privacy issue was moot, he just simply didn’t use email.

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36

The EPA receives it’s fair share of abuse. “Thugs” is a surprisingly common epithet. Maybe I should stop reading Detroit water “articles”.

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They all blink when unset, to let you know that it isn’t really 12:00. (It might be, but the odds aren’t good.)

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lol - you were “that guy” in class, weren’t you?

He was usually right too…

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39

Yeah, they say that, but reality is much more banal - because money.

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40

this works exactly as good with moved scare quotes

Detroit "water" articles
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