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R&D Funding That Isn’t for R&D
The recently unveiled blog at the new Scientists and Engineers for America Action Fund website has a column from Gerald Epstein questioning a $2 billion request in the FY2009 budget for the Department of Homeland Security. He determines that the request is for an already-funded multi-agency bioshield project that would stockpile medical supplies for use in the event of a bioterrorist attack—and, he explains, it’s erroneous to count those dollars as part of a proposed increase for federal scientific research:
Since these funds have already been appropriated, since they can be spent over a multi-year period, and since only some unknown fraction of them will pay for R&D at all (and only indirectly, at that), they can’t be considered part of the federal governments FY2009 R&D budget.
That’s $2 billion, he points out, that shouldn’t get factored into the modest 1 percent increase, accounting for inflation, in federal R&D support.
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