Budget deal: still a raw deal for science

Congress scrambled to cobble together the budget based on the Murray-Ryan blueprint of late December. Because of the twin squeeze -- no revenue increases and the constant, incessant, unnecessary Republican call for cuts in 1/3 of the budget (and yes I know the Dems should have accepted a couple of Medicare and Social Security trims), science gets the short end of the stick.

The budget deal came out and the scientific research community isn't thrilled

"But the NIH budget target falls short of what both the White House and Senate Democrats wanted. House Democrats said it was $714 million less than "the 2013 enacted level" of $30.648 billion. According to the NIH's own numbers, meanwhile, it is approximately $950 million less than its 2012 level. In fact, the number is lower than during President Barack Obama’s first year in office and, when adjusted for inflation, is lower than it was in every year but the first of the George W. Bush administration."

 NASA did better.  And they have long-term (really long term) plans for a manned mission to Mars. Really.

Budget deal would preserve NASA's big missions

"$3.1 billion for the Mars mission, including $1.2 billion for the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle that will carry astronauts to Mars and $1.9 billion for the Space Launch System that will build and guide the rocket that will propel them to the Red Planet."

Seriously.

Well, what about NSF?
Five key features of the omnibus budget bill

"The National Science Foundation (NSF) also is disappointed with its $7.2 billion budget, $68 million under its target."

So why is it ultimately a bad deal for science?  This is why:

"Overall, the agreement appears set to wipe out at least one-half of the sequester cuts planned for 2014 and one-quarter of those scheduled for 2015. Further relief could come from new revenue sources established by the plan, such as a new fee on airline tickets. Still, for the time being, planned sequester cuts remain in place in 2016 through 2020."

If you think there isn't going to be a fight about that, then think again, because it's going to be rough.