re: aTm / Mizzou fans - Explain to us the tangible benefits of the AAU

"Pork barrel spending is when senators and congressmen add extraneous sections to a bill to fund specific projects in their states or districts. Research money comes from the NIH and NSF, which are one item funded by the federal budget. By your definition everything the govt does is pork spending, including the military."

I agree totally with that and will add to it that not all monies for research comes from the Government. Some research projects are funded by a combination of Government, corporations and private funding.