Many scientists were extremely excited by the stimulus bill that passed the US House of Representatives because it included significant funding for science, which in many fields is currently operating at FY07 levels due to continuing resolutions.
As the stimulus package, which passed the House at a cost of $885 billion dollars, moved to the Senate, it ballooned to $937 billion.
A group of senators is now arguing that the total cost should be closer to $800 billion and have presented a document for discussion that shows where the cuts will be made. (See the full document here.) Many scientists are alarmed that the proposed cuts include the entire contributions to NSF, DOE's Office of Science, NASA exploration, along with substantial cuts to other science programs. (Full disclosure: Funding for symmetry magazine comes via the DOE Office of Science through the national laboratories.)
The American Physical Society president, Cherry Murray, wrote a letter to all APS members asking for them to write to their congressional representatives to encourage funding for science in the stimulus bill. Many science listservs have also been sending calls to action for funding, and science enthusiasts on social networking sites like facebook and the microblogging service twitter have been sending alarms to their colleagues and friends.
Meanwhile, President Obama spoke at DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC, yesterday to push for adoption of the stimulus package and he also mentioned a few specific actions he is taking with regard to DOE, including a memorandum instructing DOE to tighten efficiency standards for some household appliances. More details of his speech are here. View .wmv video of the speech here.
A Senate vote on the bill could come as early as today, or possibly Sunday.
