Midterm Elections May Result In Reduced Science Funding

Nature News (10/14, Reich) reports, "Unlike their counterparts elsewhere, US scientists have been sitting pretty in the wake of the global economic downturn. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus bill, pumped an extra US$31 billion into science, and President Barack Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2011 included generous increases for several science-funding agencies. But going into the midterm elections, a different narrative is emerging," because of Republican focus on reducing deficits. Yet "in the past, both parties have consistently supported science funding. A doubling of the National Institutes of Health budget from 1999 to 2003 was initiated during Democratic president Bill Clinton's tenure with the approval of a Republican Congress." Still, "the potential arrival of Tea Party-backed candidates in Congress with a focus on reduced government and unfavorable attitudes towards science is likely to be significant."