Weekly column: Don't believe Bush, Kerry promises

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2010-1028-5432950.html

Empty promises and tech's future
November 1, 2004, 4:00 AM PT
By Declan McCullagh

In his first campaign for president, Bill Clinton assured Americans that 
he would boost government's involvement in science and technology.

A Clinton administration was going to create a new "civilian advanced 
technology agency" modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects 
Agency (DARPA), double federal spending on research, make the research 
and development tax credit permanent, nearly double the average car's 
fuel efficiency to about 45 miles per gallon and link U.S. cities with 
300mph "bullet trains."

Not one of those campaign promises came true. Clinton and the gang from 
Arkansas soon had to face a bitter political reality: Making promises 
about technology is far easier than making them happen.

The White House's first major tech initiative after the 1993 
inauguration turned out to be the reviled, and eventually abandoned, 
phone-encryption technology known as the Clipper Chip. A few years 
later, a reluctant Clinton signed into law a bill eliminating the Office 
of Technology Assessment.

[...remainder snipped...]
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