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This looks like a classic baseless hit piece. The author throws George Soros' name in hear just to get people worked up even though George Soros has nothing to do with the proposed law. Then the only argument he makes really argues more for this law being passed than it does for it not being passed if you really think about it. If taxpayors are paying for research, we ought to have access to the findings unless the research was on something like sensitive nuclear weapons technology or something like that we wouldn't want our enemies to have. I agree that the government picks what they'll research and that often their research "reflects the outcome of whatever cause or theory government bureaucrats are advancing." That I don't doubt. But allowing the government to bury research that doesn't reach the "right" conclusions will not help in getting the truth out. We ought to know the results of the research we pay for. The government shouldn't get to pick and choose what they release. That only makes it easier for them to work their spin, if that is in fact what is happening. I really cannot think of any good reason not to make taxpayer funded research available to the public unless there is some vital national security interest in keeping it secret.

This looks like a classic baseless hit piece. The author throws George Soros' name in hear just to get people worked up even though George Soros has nothing to do with the proposed law

No kidding. The author says in the article In 2002, Soros gave $3 million dollars to the Budapest Open Access Initiative, one of whose objectives is to “assist in the establishment of alternative journals that are committed to offering free and unrestricted online access to published articles.”

So Soros gave money to some group who wants to establish "alternative journals" (aka progressive pablum) and have online access to them for anyone. What does this have to do with the proposed legislation? Nothing. Free Republic offers open access to to it's alternative to the MSM - does that put us in bed with Soros? This was just a way to get a knee jerk reaction from conservative readers. The author may be a conservative but that doesn't mean he's not a hack.

If taxpayers are paying for research, we ought to have access to the findings...

We already have access to the research findings - journals publish them, libraries have them, other science professionals have them. This is about the government forcing journals to give up their copyrights to the stuff they pay good money to peer-review and publish.

If the government y'all seem to trust sooooo much wants to make research it funds available, the solution is simple; just forbid researchers taking federal money from publishing in peer-reviewed journals and make their work available strictly through the government. That way, people get to read the research and we don't have Big Gub'mint forcing publications to give-up their intellectual property. See, everyone wins, right?