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Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

arstechnica.com

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Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#51

Post by AlotOfReading »

yieldcrv wrote: post #33

75 years ago, universities were cautious about accepting Federal funds due to this specific possibility. It worked out. Not it isn't. Federal funds comes with strings attached and administrations change. If the usefulness of the work has proven itself now, then other sources can fund it. This won't really be controversial or require grandstanding or debate soon, because it will be the status quo. Yes, its also disrup…

75 years ago was right in the middle of McCarthyism, when universities were not only taking federal GI Bill money hand over fist, but instituting loyalty pledges and political review boards for staff and students. I don't think anyone needed to contemplate theoretical financial levers when they had much more straightforward examples immediately at hand.

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#52

Post by Herring »

“Differing political opinions” is a dealbreaker for liberals, but NOT for conservatives. And conservatives don’t know this, they just love to take advantage - a Supreme Court seat here, a presidency there… One fine day liberals will wake up and decide they’ve had enough, and conservatives will be so surprised.

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#53

Post by Auracle »

atmavatar wrote: post #39
landl0rd wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I voted for Trump. I think the Harvard funding thing is stupid. I don't really want money going to Israel. However, I don't think this is chilling. I would prefer more defense spending to ensure the military inferiority of China. And I would prefer to cut most social spending from the federal level and relegate it to the local level. This is pretty consistent with most people on the right. This is not a feature of th…

> I would prefer more defense spending to ensure the military inferiority of China. How much do you believe each country spends on defense? See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest... Based on that, the US spends more than the remainder of the top 10 countries combined , most of which are allies. The US could cut its defense budget in half and still be spending more than China and Russia (spo…

We also need to pay our people/manufacturers significantly more than either of those countries.

Don’t get wrong, we’ve all heard stories about $5,000 toilet seats or whatever but without actual changes on that front we can’t cut our budget in half and be competitive.

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#54

Post by Braxton1980 »

uhhhd wrote: post #45
Braxton1980 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What evidence do you have of political indoctrination or social activism?

That Harvard chose to settle this lawsuit rather than litigate it. https://www.kasowitz.com/media/unxcnvpo/harvard-complaint.pd...

How is that evidence when entities settle suits all the time to avoid the cost and time of litigation?

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#55

Post by Auracle »

igor47 wrote: post #23
rpmisms wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More chilling that the white house still uses WordPress.

That's really not more chilling. I recommend actually reading the document. There are multi billion dollar cuts to IT programs and CISA/cyber security infrastructure, along with massive cuts to basic research, EPA protections and toxic site cleanup, and basic social services, the list goes on. Instead we're plowing extra money into military spending, but because the defense budget is already so bloated it amounts to…

If we’re investing in securing the border with a significant chunk of that defense spending that’ll save us a lot more over time, presuming the democratic presidents of the future don’t proverbially throw the gates open.

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#56

Post by pasttense01 »

tptacek wrote: post #22
_zagj wrote: post #19

Harvard currently has a $52 billion endowment on which it pays no tax: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/business/harvard-endowmen... Why are progressives not bothered more by this?

They should use their endowment to mitigate this. People should be concerned about that. But (1) other schools aren't in that position, and (2) whether or not the Harvard admin makes the right calls, we either are or aren't funding cancer research; we should be angry at anybody compromising that.

They will to a certain extent, but the substantial majority of the funds are restricted (for example buy art for the museum).

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#57

Post by ahazred8ta »

_zagj wrote: post #19

Harvard currently has a $52 billion endowment on which it pays no tax: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/business/harvard-endowmen... Why are progressives not bothered more by this?

Do you know of ANY countries where universities have to pay capital gains taxes on their endowments?

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#58

Post by landl0rd »

blackguardx wrote: post #20
landl0rd wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I voted for Trump. I think the Harvard funding thing is stupid. I don't really want money going to Israel. However, I don't think this is chilling. I would prefer more defense spending to ensure the military inferiority of China. And I would prefer to cut most social spending from the federal level and relegate it to the local level. This is pretty consistent with most people on the right. This is not a feature of th…

The only presidents that made any attempt to balance the budget in the last 40 years were members of the Democratic party. The perception of "right = fiscally responsible" and "left = reckless spending" just isn't accurate.

Then this was a total miscommunication or misread. The last paragraph of my comment was bemoaning precisely this. The right yaps about "we need to cut spending" and never does. The left doesn't yap about it and also never does.

"All we'll get is more spending. The right will raise the defense budget and fail to stop recapture and overcharging by defense primes through the broken cost-plus model. The left will raise social spending. We all end up deeper in debt."

I have no such perception.

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#59

Post by WalterGR »

_zagj wrote: post #29
WalterGR wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they know what an endowment is, how they're used, what a 501(c)(3) nonprofit is, and very generally the tax rules around such nonprofits. I can provide links if you'd like to learn. I'm just on mobile right now and it's a pain. It would help, though, if you could describe in what way people should be bothered.

> what a 501(c)(3) nonprofit In the case of Harvard and many other institutions, it's a tax-dodge, and nothing more. Same thing with non-profit hospitals whose administrators pay themselves seven-figure salaries.

> it's a tax-dodge, and nothing more. Same thing with non-profit hospitals whose administrators pay themselves seven-figure salaries.

What do you mean by tax dodge, in this context?

How familiar are you with taxes? Off the top of my head, people who work for non-profits have to pay withholdings and income taxes, just like the rest of us. Generally, 'business' expenses for both non-profit and for-profit organizations (whether a McDonalds, university, church) are tax-deductible. Tax rules differ between states, but being a non-profit doesn't automatically exempt you from collecting and forwarding other forms of tax, such as sales tax.

Re: Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard

#60

Post by landl0rd »

Braxton1980 wrote: post #16
landl0rd wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I voted for Trump. I think the Harvard funding thing is stupid. I don't really want money going to Israel. However, I don't think this is chilling. I would prefer more defense spending to ensure the military inferiority of China. And I would prefer to cut most social spending from the federal level and relegate it to the local level. This is pretty consistent with most people on the right. This is not a feature of th…

>The left will raise social spending. We all end up deeper in debt. But >I would prefer more defense spending to ensure the military inferiority of China

Defense was about 12% of last year's spending. I think we should cut the other 88% a lot. Raise defense spending a little. Work hard on bringing down defense costs because we are throwing money at the primes for what.
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