By now it is clear that the big funding compromise the congressional supercommittee hoped to hammer out together has failed to come into being, meaning that automatic, across-the-board spending cuts for federal discretionary programs will go into effect. The probable result for the NIH's portion: cuts between 5-10% each year for the next 10 years. Will the President try and intercede? He says No. Are people happy with Congress' performance after this bipartisan failure? Decidedly not: NPR reported over the weekend that Congress' approval rating is at an all-time-low of 9%. Students, researchers, professional and industry organizations, and universities with vital bioscience programs especially are continuing to be very vocal about the pending funding cuts. We wait to see if and where the axe will fall exactly, though complacency is not the order of the day. Everyone seems to agree that the US needs to maintain its edge internationally as a leader in science and technology, but how to do that while reducing the deficit is a problem still without an equitable solution.
