Undercutting the Grant Process

Abstract

The house majority leader for the 112th U.S. Congress, Rep. Eric Cantor (R–VA), has proposed an experiment in which citizens decide how to reduce federal spending through voting on various programs, an idea he has cleverly named “YouCut.” Most recently, he has proposed applying “YouCut” to awards granted by the National Science Foundation (NSF). On his Web site ( ), he encourages people to search through NSF awards and report “questionable” research. From those grants deemed questionable, the House will vote on which grants deserve to have their funding revoked. The research that receives funding from the NSF has been evaluated by those who are qualified to judge the scientific merit of the research. Only about one-quarter of submitted proposals receive funding ([ 1 ][1]). It is ridiculous to ask the general populace to evaluate the merit of research based on searching the NSF database for “questionable” proposal titles. ![Figure][2] CREDIT: TIM ABRAMOWITZ/[ISTOCKPHOTO.COM][3] It is equally ridiculous to pretend that allowing the American people to vote on NSF grants does anything more than provide a false sense of security about mitigating the national debt. I agree with Rep. Cantor's sentiment; the American public should be educated about exactly what our tax dollars support. However, our legislature should not pretend that, in this case, it is for our economic benefit. The 2010 budget for the NSF was $7 billion ([ 2 ][4]); this is 0.5% of the $1.4 trillion federal discretionary budget ([ 3 ][5]). Even if the entire NSF were eliminated, 99.5% of the discretionary budget is ignored in such a cutback program. It is clear that the primary goal of YouCut is to reduce funding for science. The U.S. scientific community needs to take a stand and let the House know that YouCut is both unwarranted and a waste of resources. 1. [↵][6]National Science Foundation, About Funding ([www.nsf.gov/funding/aboutfunding.jsp][7]). 2. [↵][8]National Science Foundation, FY 2010 Budget Request ([www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2010/index.jsp][9]). 3. [↵][10]Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables ([www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/][11]). [1]: #ref-1 [2]: pending:yes [3]: http://ISTOCKPHOTO.COM [4]: #ref-2 [5]: #ref-3 [6]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [7]: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/aboutfunding.jsp [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [9]: http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2010/index.jsp [10]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [11]: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/