Transcript Bill Foster

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 Timeline
Businessman: ETC Inc (1974…~1980)
Physicist: (1979-2005)
I.
II.
–
–
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’s
Accelerators
Past,
Present,
and Future
Dr. G. William
Foster
November 8, 2002
Collider
Detector at
Fermilab
(CDF)
1984 - 2005
CDF
“Damn Fast”
Event Display
Program
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
Antiproton
Recycler Ring
Fermilab
Main Injector
Beam Damper Circuits for Main Injector
Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC)
100kA Superconducting Transmission Line Magnet
8 GeV Linac / Proton Driver / Project X
• Bill Got Married,
• Raised a Family,
• Had a reasonably interesting career
in Physics.
So: why go into politics?
A: The Familial Recessive Gene for
Adult-Onset Political Activism
Bill’s Mother and Father
Jeanette Raymond and
George William Foster
Met on Capitol Hill ~1950
Bill’s Mom worked for
Sen. Paul Douglas (D-IL)
Composition of
Governing Bodies
of Different
Countries
100%
ENGINEERS &
SCIENTISTS
CHINA
Politboro
European
Commission
U.S. State Houses
100%
POLITICIANS
& OTHERS
U.S. Congress
0 % Scientists
100%
LAWYERS
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
Congressional
Ball - 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
ORDWAS 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.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS
Q: What is the most DANGEROUS
for of electrical power generation?
(i.e. deaths per megawatt-hour)
A: Rooftop Solar Energy
Worse than the Great Depression
Household Net Worth Compared to Peak
100%
Great
Depression
(1929-1934)
95%
HOOVER
90%
FDR
BUSH
85%
Stimulus
80%
OBAMA
Great
Recession
75%
(Started Q3 2007)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Years from Peak
Sources: Frederic S. Mishkin, "Household Balance Sheet and The Great Depression," J. Econ.Hist.38 (Dec.1978), p. 920. & Federal Reserve Flow-of-Funds.