I like the initiatives below–however, you’ll notice that they’re surrounded by a lot of other junk “stuff”. ie there’s 787 billion of which 21.5 billion is for R&D. Notice too that the golden age of scientific R&D that obama refers to occurred on Eisenhower’s watch– in response to Sputnik. (The best that can be said about the car business — imho is that they are buying time for the US automakers–read GM & Chrysler. Ford is doing fine. Chrysler looks like its shaping up to be a negative learning experience for all parties involved–especially the auto unions–and likely too US taxpayers and the Italian automaker.)

Obama vows return to US science prominence

Obama pointed to the US goal set in the 1950s to reach space and its commitment to leading scientific innovation after the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching its Sputnik 1 satellite into space in 1957.

“That was the high water mark of America’s investment in research and development. Since then our investments have steadily declined as a share of our national income,” he said.

But Obama set a goal of devoting more than three percent of US gross domestic product (GDP) to research and development.

As part of his massive 787-billion-dollar stimulus bill, Obama has committed 21.5 billion dollars for research and development, and his 2010 budget includes another 75 billion to make research and experimentation tax credits permanent.

Obama announced the launch of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, or ARPA-E, a 400-million-dollar initiative dedicated to “high-risk, high-reward research.”

Obama touched on his recovery plan that includes investing 150 billion dollars over the next decade on renewable energy sources.