<a href='http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/' target='_blank'>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/</a>

You've officially gone off the deep end. :beam:

deep end.. sure guy

Dogger Wrote:<a href='http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/' target='_blank'>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3449870/</a>

Quote:I am a relatively young scientist, but the insidious cancer-like erosion of budgets for scientific in my office is setting off alarm bells among many scientists who have worked here for 25+ years and who say they have never seen the devaluing of science, emanating from the highest levels of the DOI, or scientific thinking as much as now.

So, the administration must hate "science" if it's this guys budget that's getting reduced.

Some other facts:

<a href='http://www.nih.gov/news/budget/FY2005presbudget.pdf' target='_blank'>http://www.nih.gov/news/budget/FY2005presbudget.pdf</a>

Quote:FY 2003 Actual $27,173 M
FY 2004 Enacted Level $28,028 M 3.1%
FY 2005 President's Budget - Budget Authority $28,757 M 2.6%
Number of Competing RPGs 10,393 +258 over FY 2004
Total Number of RPGs w/o SBIR/STTR 37,744 +515 over FY 2004

The NIH budget doubled in the five years from FY 1999 through FY 2003.

Of course not all of that was the current administration. However, we saw percentage increases to a budget that is self-reported to be large.

Quote:Administration Seeks 2.4% Increase in NSF Budget

National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement described the FY 2006 budget request as follows: "For FY 2006, the National Science Foundation is requesting $5.605 billion. That's $132 million, or 2.4 percent, more than in FY 2005. This modest increase allows us to assume new responsibilities, meet our ongoing commitments, and employ more staff – with little room for growth in research and education programs. This means we'll all have to keep working to leverage resources and work more productively."

NSF was one of the few S&T agencies that would see a budget increase in FY 2006 under the request that the Bush Administration submitted this week.

<a href='http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=15362' target='_blank'>http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=15362</a>

Quote:Marburger briefly described those budgets which would increase next year, including an 8% increase in NIST's core research activities, a 2.4% increase for NSF, a 2.4% increase for NASA, a 1% increase for NIH, and an increase in S&T funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Total funding for DOE's Office of Science would decline, as would Defense 6.1 and 6.2 program spending. USGS funding would be flat.

All of this is doubly ironic, since you Dogger have been criticizing the Bush administration for over-spending. If he spends, that's irresponsible. If he cuts back...that's irresponsible.
This isn't a legitimate criticism, it's irrational hatred for Bush.

Quote:Name and Location Withheld:

That really adds legitimacy to this article. You can't even add your name to your article....What a wussy.

Quote:All of my colleagues, both here at the and at the university, share my concerns about the future of science in this country.&nbsp; After all, it was our many scientific innovations that got us where we are today, yet it appears that this effort is yet another mode by
which the administration hopes to send us spinning back to the "good old days" of creationism and the like.

What scientific innovations? You work for the United States Fish & Wildlife. Did you find out that the mating habits of the Alaskan Brown bear usually occur in the woods? I haven't seen a whole lot of innovation from these guys or anything of value that makes my day to day life better.

When it comes to budgets and fiscal responsibility Dogger, there is only a finite amount of money to spend and you can't just give it all away to people like this whose research involves a tent, a flashlight, some hemp, and a tie-die shirt. The other word for this type of research is called welfare.

blah Wrote:When it comes to budgets and fiscal responsibility Dogger, there is only a finite amount of money to spend and you can't just give it all away to people like this whose research involves a tent, a flashlight, some hemp, and a tie-die shirt. The other word for this type of research is called welfare.

I knew I had read something on this topic when this thread started. But, I couldn't figure out where I had seen it! :bang:

Quote:Government Spending Continues To Drive R&D Growth


In the 1990s, industry drove dramatic growth in U.S. R&D following one of the longest economic growth periods in U.S. history. After the high-tech bubble burst in 1999 and 2000, the largest increases in government R&D spending in a decade took up the slack as many industries cut their R&D increases to stay financially solvent. And in an uncertain 2003, with a recession seemingly in decline, homeland security jitters, and a growing budget deficit, the outlook was still optimistic for increased R&D growth. In 2004, the economy was continuing to improve, but not as fast as many had expected. There were still the uncertainties of homeland security, the outcome of a presidential election, and the long-term economic issues of an increasing trade deficit and now record federal budget deficits.

The uncertainties involved in this roller coaster economic ride for the past five years has made for an interesting, to say the least, study in forecasting trends. Dramatic changes in the socio-politico-economic climate can do that. But through all these years of changes, total U.S. R&D spending has continued to increase each year. It did not increase at the rates of the late-1990s, but those, in retrospect, were unrealistic to maintain. And the fact that total R&D spending has continued to increase is at least partially responsible for the current U.S. economic recovery.

In this environment of change, analysts at Battelle, Columbus, Ohio, and the editors of R&D Magazine expect that total R&D in the U.S. for 2005 will increase by approximately 3.6% over that spent in 2004 to $311.6 billion. The principal driving force for this increase will be the expenditures by the federal government, estimated to increase by almost 6%. The overall government increase is dominated by an increase in spending by the Dept. of Defense (DOD). And while other government and non-profit R&D spending sectors may have larger percentage increases in funding, the sheer magnitude of the DOD budget will dominate the 2004 to 2005 increase.

<a href='http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=014&ACCT=1400000100&ISSUE=0501&RELTYPE=CVS&PRODCODE=00000000&PRODLETT=F' target='_blank'>http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR.aspx?PUBCODE=0...0000&PRODLETT=F</a>