The GOP in the House have come out with a list of cuts they want to have added to the continuing resolution (CR) slated to be brought up for vote soon. The cuts total $74 billion and will be (if I read it all correctly) applied to this years budget. That means the cuts will be immediate.  Looking at the list, some of the things don't bode well, as a good chunk is directed towards science funding.

1. A 1 billion dollar cut from the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States.

2. A 1 billion dollar cut from the National Institutes of Health. The NIH is the nations major medical research agency.

3. A 246 million dollar cut directed at university-based agricultural research. This most likely means a cut to NIFA, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture which provides research funds to land-grant and other universities.

4. A 139 million dollar cut to the National Science Foundation.

There are other cuts directed at programs which are also science-based:

CDC - $755 million

NASA - $379 million

NOAA - $336 million

EPA - $1600 million

FDA - $220 million

USGS - $27 million

FSIS - $53 million

NIST - $186 million

These cuts alone* add up to almost 6 billion dollars. That is a lot of funding for science to lose in the year 2011 (and probably thereafter).

*The also don't include cuts to the Smithsonian which helps promote interest in science, or the Forest Service which conducts some basic forestry research, along with other agencies and programs which are science-based or related.