Editorial: Slowing progress to a crawl

Friday, Jan. 6, 2006 | 7:31 a.m.

The mounting federal budget deficit and President Bush's tax cuts are taking a heavy toll on federal programs. Large cuts in spending on the student loan program, Medicaid and Medicare have been widely reported. Lesser known, however, are cuts to the government's funding to universities for scientific research.

Choking off funds for research and development grants is likely to have serious implications not only for the nation's universities, but also for nearly every other sector of society. Health care providers, businesses and individual consumers are all affected. Each year hundreds of new and safer products, and advances in medicines and medical procedures, have their origins in university research.

This research is also critical in the development of our future scientists and engineers, as graduate students receive a great deal of their formal education by participating in projects supported by federal grants. Many economists believe that the federal government's budget for research and development has been a leading factor in creating this country's high standard of living. Defense experts agree that the R&D budget is what has led this country to its standing as the world's strongest superpower.

For the current fiscal year, which began in October, President Bush proposed a $132.3 billion budget for R&D. Congress approved a $134.8 billion bill and Bush signed it on Dec. 30. But even with the extra money approved by Congress, the funding represents only a 1.7 percent increase, all of which is lost when inflation is factored in. And the Associated Press has reported that 97 percent of the "increase" is destined for the Defense Department and NASA.

This will leave universities and government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, receiving less money for research in this fiscal year than in past years. This is coming at a time when research costs are rapidly increasing. The cut is in stark contrast to a recommendation by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences. In October the committee strongly recommended to the federal government that its budget for basic research be increased by 10 percent for the next seven years.

With so many countries now in a position to challenge our technological superiority, now is not the time to be cutting the research funding that for so long has kept us in front.