That's the tradeoff -- lifetime employment doing what you love should only go to those who are supremely dedicated and won't abuse the privilege.

Part of her issue though is that academic research and academic writing are two different skills, and being a productive researcher essentially requires you to spend a lot of time writing papers. I would think that a grant that allowed scientists (especially) to hire dedicated scientific writers would have a multiplier effect on the productivity of the scientist and would also improve the quality of the papers produced, as having to explain the concept to a non-expert tends to crystallize ideas on presentation.