[redshift]

That 520 mil might as well have been a handshake and a wink to "keep things as they are". It pisses me off to no end, how many jobs would that money have created?
How many thousand better uses can I think of?

As long as gov't continues to speak out of both sides of it's mouth, nothing improves.

They could have subsidized independent researchers (such as yourself), or even made a contest of sorts. Imagine the response to something like that!

As long as they funnel $ into a single company, there is no real incentive for them to innovate. What the hell, the money is in their hands. They don't have to do jack.

These things always look so good on the surface. But they will likely end up doing more harm than if they'd not given anyone any money. Hard not to be a cynic when you have some inkling how these things operate. UUUUGH.