Lowered expectations. That's why most science lobbyists are expressing quiet satisfaction with a massive 2004 budget bill that Congress stitched together last week. The spending measure (H.R. 2673) allocates 5% and 3.1% boosts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), respectively, in a year when national security rules the roost and the deficit is expected to reach a half-trillion dollars. Other agencies will have to make do with less, however, after legislators played Scrooge or used part of the agencies' budgets to pay for so-called earmarks that benefit the legislators' districts or states.
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