January 9, 2008

Earmarks Again Eat Into the Amount Available for Merit-Based Research, Analysis Finds

By Jeffrey Brainard

After a one-year moratorium for most earmarks, Congress resumed directing noncompetitive grants for scientific research to favored constituents, including universities, this year, a new analysis says.

Spending for nondefense research fell by about one-third in the 2008 fiscal year, compared with 2006, but the earmarked money nevertheless ate into sums available for traditional, merit-reviewed grants, the analysis by the

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