Senators Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.) are leading the latest charge against federal spending by targeting a slew of different research programs, claiming that many of them have failed to create jobs, something the stimulus plan was supposed to focus on.
The Senators criticized The National Institute of Health, which received $10 billion in stimulus funding that has been mostly used to research diseases like cancer, heart disease and substance abuse.
While cancer research and heart disease remain virtually unchallenged by critics of the funding, substance abuse research programs have been noticeably more controversial.
The NIH has been called out by several critics for its use of stimulus funds to create studies on the effects of methamphetamines on the sexual behavior of female rats, among other substance-abuse-related programs.
The NIH argues in return that there is no other way for them to study substance abuse.
"I don’t know if the critics want us to experiment with humans, or just give up on the problem of drug addiction, but we aren’t going to do either," said Director Francis Collins to The Wallstreet Journal.
Coburn and McCain also took aim this month on a $1.9 million federally-funded project to study ant populations.
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