IP: NAS study and NSF - from whats new

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

A NEW MEASURE OF FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR R&D -- AND A NEW PROCESS.
On Wednesday, a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, headed
by its past president Frank Press, released a remarkable study of
how federal funds for science and technology should be allocated. 
Undertaken at the request of the Senate, it proposes a bold plan.
First, it argues that U.S. investment in R&D, usually put at $70B
annually, is only about half that. The $70B figure includes funds
for such things as testing and evaluation of weapons that do not
result in new knowledge or technologies.  Second, the report
calls for considering the $35B to $40B spent on basic and applied
research in terms of an aggregated federal science and technology
budget (FS&T), obviating the need for a Department of Science. In
addition, the report bluntly states that: a) funding should favor
academic institutions, b) federal labs should stick to agency
needs and c) the federal government should stay out of technology
development, except in special areas such as weapons development.


and




HOUSE REJECTS VA/HUD/IA CONFERENCE REPORT IN A STUNNING UPSET. 
The President had vowed to veto the VA/HUD/IA appropriation, but
it didn't even get out of Congress.  The House voted to send it
back to conference with instructions to restore veterans' medical
care to the House level, but David Obey (D-WI), who introduced
the motion, said a lot of members would have voted for any motion
to recommit because "it's a lousy bill."  Hopes that a deal could
be struck to shift money to VA/HUD/IA from Defense were dashed
last night when the President agreed to sign the Defense spending
bill to support his Bosnia plan. So the $213M needed for veterans
health must come from elsewhere in VA/HUD/IA, but there are also
demands for increases in housing, EPA, and National Service.  And
the space station is exempted from any cuts.  That leaves NSF and
space science as the only programs nobody is speaking up for.