I totally agree with Bill Gates and what he has to say about keeping the United States innovative. Alot of scientists are set to retire over the next several years and that could seriously affect innvoative programs like NASA and DARPA. Yeah, wages might go up for people like myself (biotech) but you have to think about things in the long run.

He is right. Especially about the qualified foreigners part. It's what brought the US to where it is now, and improving it will only make the future brighter.

People learn in different ways, educational funding must be spent accordingly to a multiple set of characteristics. Not all children want to learn what the goverentment says is important for them to learn at that time in their life. They might have better things to concentrate on then. Its about maturity.

When you have a nation of end product users, the need to make better dries up. Also if the old technologies are in full sway and meeting the need here, you can't expect new technologies to take their place until old stuff goes away. Why dump heavy investment into wind, solar and bio if oil is still making good bucks. Old technologies have a solid infrastructure and is cemented into the everyday habits of citizens, we are so uncertain of new technology which requires a transition in both infrastructure and personal habits. Then ideas are locked behind legal walls and people can't pick and poke and fiddle to get the skills to devise new stuff. So what, if we aren't leading in technology if we haven't pushed the technology we have down into society. Outside of college, most of us live as do developing nations. Technology has not lowered the cost of living nor raised our standard of living, we struggle against too many home grown forces. Mr.G lives in a totally different America.
We might be better off if we go abroad for schooling and bring the technology back home, the same as other nations have done with us. Not living here would awaken us to possibilities missed because of our entrenched culture and mindsets. What's wrong in America is that money and ideas stopped flowing.