If you followed LENR at all, you would know that it has been developed to this point without signficant gov't funding at all, while the "hot fusion" effort has been sucking down billions upon billions of dollars with negligible results.
And it isn't just about LENR. There are several different approaches to "hot fusion" that have more promise than the Tokamak (Bussard Polywell, for one). But the tokamak crowd has managed to monopolize virtually all fusion funding.
"Putting all one's eggs in a single basket" has never been good policy.
"I was a mere skeptic about what Rossi has supposedly found, but this kicks the action into a whole nother plane, a US subsidy one. If this is not grounds for Freepers to say Enough, what is?"
Guess what. Your purist position that "government shouldn't fund research" has never existed in the history of the US. It started with the Lewis and Clark expedition, and has continued ever since. As an entirely practical matter, the US has found over and over again that funding research is essential to national survival.
Looking for land to occupy isn’t the same as buying temperamental gadgets from a convicted con man. And everybody must be DEAF as I said the Tokomak should be private, yes with the disposal of its ultimate waste supervised by authorized public authorities. Anyhow, it is very easy to boondoggle something that the market would have quickly euthanized, like Solyndra. I do not share your view that largesse should be bestowed upon Rossi boxes.