What life is like as a Scientist in Congress, (plus a Few Comments on FAB Lab Legislation) Hon. Bill...

What life is like as a Scientist in Congress,(plus a Few Comments on FAB Lab Legislation)

Hon. Bill Foster

U.S. Congressman (IL-11)

Bill Foster’s TimelineI. Businessman: ETC Inc (1974…~1980)

II. Physicist: (1979-2005)– IMB Proton Decay Detector (~1980-1984)– Fermilab (1984-2005)

• Particle Physics Experiments• Particle Accelerator Design & Construction

III. Politician (2006 - )– Why would you possibly do such a thing?– A day in the life of a U.S. Congressman– Science and Environmental Policy

ENDORSEMENTS

• Key factor in successful transition to politics:1. Established Politicians

2. Distinguished Co-Workers

• Bill Foster’s First Endorsements: 31 Nobel Prize Winners

(we polled this carefully before announcing…)

Still, that did not seem quite enough…

Bill’s 32nd Nobel Laureate Endorser

Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.

• Co-founded 1974 with brother Fred Foster– Bill was 19, Fred 17– Initial Capitalization: $500 from our parents.

• ETC now manufactures ~70% of all Theatre Lighting Equipment in U.S.– $150M+ sales/year– 650+ Employees– Fred runs business (Bill bought out in 2007)

Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.~1974 -1980

Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.Today

650+ Employees in Middleton, WI

IMB Detector 1979 – 1984 (…1987A)• Bill’s PhD Thesis (under Prof. Larry Sulak)• No Proton Decay, but saw SN1987A neutrinos

Bill at Fermilab 1984 - 2006

Fermilab’sAccelerato

rs

Past,Present,

and Future

Dr. G. William Foster

November 8, 2002

Collider Detector at Fermilab

(CDF)

1984 - 2005

“Damn Fast”

Event Display Program

CDF

QIE Integrated Circuit (invented for Superconducting Super Collider)

• Deadtimeless Charge Integrator and Floating-Point Digitizer

• Still in use today for LHC experiments

Particle Accelerators 1994-2006

FermilabMain Injector

Antiproton Recycler Ring

Beam Damper Circuits for Main Injector

Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC) 100kA Superconducting Transmission Line Magnet

8 GeV Linac / Proton Driver / Project X

A: The Familial Recessive Gene for

Adult-Onset Political Activism

• Bill Got Married,

• Raised a Family,

• Had a reasonably interesting career in Physics.

So: why go into politics?

Bill’s Mother and FatherJeanette Raymond and George William Foster

Met on Capitol Hill ~1950

Bill’s Mom worked for Sen. Paul Douglas (D-IL)

0 % Scientists100%

LAWYERS

100% ENGINEERS &

SCIENTISTS

100%POLITICIANS

& OTHERS

U.S. Congress

CHINAPolitboro

European Commission

U.S. State Houses

Composition ofGoverning Bodies

of DifferentCountries

Scientist or politician?Pronounce this word:

“UNIONIZED”

Patrick Murphy 2006 Campaign

Bill Started the 110th Congress as an Intern in the Office of Rep. Patrick

Murphy

• He ended it as a sitting Congressman

The Campaign Staff

Bill’s Favorite Parade Tie

County Fairs

Churches

March 8, 2008

Swearing-In Ceremony – March 11, 2008

CongressionalBall - 2008

What Life as a Congressman is Really Like

• Scheduled 12 Hours each day

• Read myself to sleep each night with a ¾” stack of papers…

• Live in a Crummy Efficiency Apartment in DC

• After last votes on Friday, come back home each weekend

(where I get scheduled up by the staff in the Illinois District Office…)

Efficiency Apartment

2 blocks from Capitol

H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act

“Congress on Your Corner”

So, why does anyone take this job?

Voting Machine in the U.S. House of Representatives

ORDWAS on Air Force One

Energy Policy in Congress

Real Quotes from Real Congressmen

“We should really put more windmills into our energy policy,

because windmills poll so well”- Anonymous Democrat.

“If people could see what wonderful things the free enterprise system can accomplish

when government just gets out of the way – things like planting crops using GPS…”

- Anonymous Republican.

A: Rooftop Solar Energy

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS

Q: What is the most DANGEROUS for of electrical power generation?(i.e. deaths per megawatt-hour)

GreatRecession

(Started Q3 2007)

BUSH

OBAMA

HOOVER

Great Depression (1929-1934)

FDR

Stimulus

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Hou

seho

ld N

et W

orth

Com

pare

d to

Pea

k

Years from Peak

Worse than the Great Depression

Sources: Frederic S. Mishkin, "Household Balance Sheet and The Great Depression," J. Econ.Hist.38 (Dec.1978), p. 920. & Federal Reserve Flow-of-Funds.