Some scientists are fuming about last-minute federal budget cuts to basic science research in several federal agencies.

“The nations that seek to challenge our global leadership in science and innovation should be greatly encouraged by this legislation,” according to a statement today from the American Institute of Physics.

Separately, the Mars Society has complained that the funding bill won’t allow NASA to advance its exploration of the moon nor work toward sending people to Mars, as Bush had dreamed of back in 2004.

Below is an overview of the general funding situation provided by Jim Dawson, editor of Inside Science News Service, a service to reporters from the American Institute of Physics:

For the past four years, President Bush’s budget proposals have been marked by a decline in basic and applied research, and each year presidential science adviser John Marburger justified the science cuts by pointing to the high costs of “winning the war on terror” and “securing the homeland.” But over the past two budgets, Bush has offset concern over the overall decline in US science funding with the promise of significant increases in funding for research in the physical sciences at the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Science and Technology.

Bush’s acknowledgement of the importance of basic science research, as well as science education, to both the economy and US national security, was expressed in his American Competitiveness Initiative, unveiled by the White House in February, 2006. The ACI called for a doubling of funding for science programs at NSF, DOE, and NIST over 10 years, and was a reflection of concerns coming from not only the scientific community, but private industry leaders worried about economic competitiveness.

But as the 2008 budget worked its way through Congress, the administration’s insistence on a hard overall spending cap and disputes over funding priorities, resulted in the long-promised ACI increases to all but evaporate. A proposed 15 percent increase for the DOE’s office of science was cut to 5 percent. A proposed 8.7 percent increase for NSF research was cut to 1.1 percent, and NIST, which was looking at a 12.8 percent increase, was reduced to a 4.7 percent gain.

More information on all this is provided by the AIP:

• Reaction to FY 2008 Spending Bill: “A Step Backwards,” “Very Disappointing.”
• FY 2008 NIST Funding Bill Falls Short.
• FY 2008 Budget Bill Gives NSF a 2.5% Increase.
• Budget Cycle Closing With Disappointing DOE Science Outcome.
• New Augustine Report on U.S. Competitiveness.