Facts

The feds support science & technology research both by giving out funds to government agencies and by offering tax breaks for private companies that invest in their own R&D. Here we just take a snapshot of the feds' direct funding, with data from AAAS.

direct research & development

total - military & non-military

over the years - $ billions (in 2006 constant dollars)

Bills in Brief

The new Democratic Congress continues to work on business issues that dogged last year's Congress - at the same time as giving a Democratic twist to new and old issues.

Issue in Brief

Everyone seems to be talking about internet neutrality. From the ‘father of the internet,' Vint Cerf (who testified before congress on the subject) to Senator Clinton, to a whole chorus of think tanks, newspapers and blogs, ‘net neutrality' has become quite the buzzword lately. Many want to write it into law, others want think Congress should keeps hands off, but few seem to know exactly what it is.

Really important background info: there's some stuff you've just got to know first.

• Telecommunications companies (think Qwest, AT&T, or Verizon) and internet service providers (ISPs, like Comcast, Time-Warner Cable, and others) own most of the backbone of the internet. All ‘net traffic goes through their cables.

• When we buy internet access, we either buy it from these companies, or from another company that does. When a ‘web content provider (like Amazon, Yahoo, or even citizenJoe) buys internet access, it works in exactly the same way—they just pay more for a connection that can carry more data.

Facts

With a sizable chunk of the federal budget going to NASA spending - but not enough to please every astronomer on Cape Canaveral - debates loom in and around DC on what's the best use of our space money.

What NASA's spending its money on

(out of a total budget of $16 billion in 2005) (NASA - pdf)

• Space Station and Shuttle: $6.7 billion
• "Science" (studies and exploration to understand the solar system and universe more using traditional satellites, telescopes, exploration probes, etc.): $5.5 billion
• "Exploration Systems" (researching and developing technology for future exploration, particularly getting humans farther afield and using new power sources): $2.7 billion
• "Aeronautics research" (good old fashioned planes technology): $0.9 billion
• Education: $0.2 billion

for past budgets see NASA.