Reading The New Congress: Despite new committee heads, NATIONAL PROBLEMS will remain hard to resolve

THE STUNNING REJECTION of Republican candidates in this month's election is certainly of historic proportions, but the change is not likely to mean anything significant for the science and technology community. Just because congressional committees will be chaired by Democrats doesn't mean that there will be any greater appreciation or understanding of science by our national leaders. Most important, the federal budget is and always will be the biggest factor in determining government support for scientific research, starting new initiatives, improving education, and most other functions. And the budget is still a mess. With more than a $200 billion deficit for fiscal 2006, Congress continues to struggle with the funding for the 2007 fiscal year, which started in October, and the shift of power will only complicate finishing the budget. This shift will be keenly felt, of course, by the George W. Bush Administration. For the past six years, with Republicans in power in the ...