We're picking on Romney a bit so let me be fair. When Obama says he wants to double research funding he might as well say he's going to increase the NIH and NSF budgets by a bajillion gazillion dollars. It would be equal nonsense. Obama has just north of nothing to support academic research of any kind. There was a drop in the bucket in the stimulus bill, but that has long since expired. I know some really good scientists who have lost, or are on the verge of losing their jobs, because they can't get funding. Its an epidemic. Who is going to teach all of these new STEM students when every science professor has lost his/her faculty position due to lack of funding? Academic research is not cost efficient, but its important. Think of all the products that we use that have resulted directly from academic (as opposed to industry) research. The computer and email come to mind, but there are countless others. Put up or shut Obama. I'm sick of the rhetoric (which is basically all his presidency has amounted to thus far).