Bush reaches for the stars�the rest of us reach for our wallets
January 19, 2004 ~ 9:24 p.m.
Has the success of the Mars rover, Spirit, gone to everyone�s head?
President Bush wants to take mankind to Mars. Some of us have our doubts.
Is this the time to head to the Moon and then, from there, Mars? Do we have the will or the resources? How will this affect the budget and taxes? If we pay a higher tax for the space program, then why have given us a tax cut in the first place?
The Washington Post summed it up: �The nation faces a yawning budget deficit, educational and health needs, and an international terrorist threat. That makes this an odd moment to embark on a dispensable project of great expense.�
My thoughts on the subject as well (even if it is highly amusing to have liberals lecture us about budget deficits and government spending).
If we are to be part of a successful space program, that takes into account other countries and their contributions to exploration, then the United States needs to fulfill its obligation to the International Space Station. Lunar bases and planetary missions are all part of a worthy project worth planning. But let�s face reality.
President Kennedy proposed the Moon missions during a time of great expansion in the U.S. economy. The economy was stable and healthy during the 1960s and the revenue needed by NASA to see the lunar projects to fruition was thusly made available.
Now, much of the same population that witnessed the July 1969 moon landings is set to start dipping into the collective pot known as Social Security. Social Security is facing an uphill battle for funding.
Using the theory that wars generate as much money as they deplete, we might be able to rule out the cost of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, plus the U.S.� international commitments elsewhere.
The American economy shows every sign of recovering, and the tax cuts that Bush signed into law were a big part of this recovery. But until employment prospects improve, this is no time to tell people that space exploration is high on the agenda. For more than a few, a steady paycheck is the final frontier.
Defense spending and intelligence funding remain justifiably high. The War on Terror is going to gobble up many of the resources we�ve got available to us.
Bush has thrown more money at education�he has another $2 billion increase in funding in the works�than most conservatives can bear to think about. He earmarked $15 billion for global AIDS last spring. And with John Walters at the helm, the federal government wastes more than $50 billion a year on its maniacal drug war. (Ironically, all the while, funding the rest of the world�s pharmaceutical research, don�tcha know.)
And amidst all this, we�re shooting for the stars? Where�s the money coming from, Mr. Prez? Hell, you nearly threw us into a costly trade war � and I speak as a former disciple of protectionist ideology.
Mr. Bush, with all your funds earmarked for defense, education, drugs-for-seasoned citizens, global AIDS, Homeland Security, the never-ending agony and futility of the drug war, and so much more, how do you propose to put us into space? By funding NASA�s budget by $1 billion? That�s a laugh. The struggling agency will require a great deal more than that.
Not even Clinton, a Kennedy worshipper, proposed such an ambitious space program. And considering the monstrous health care package he tried to sell us, I wouldn�t have put such a thing past him.
And unless you plan to raise taxes�and you would have to be as dumb as your opponents allege you are to do that�there is no way NASA will get more funding. And without NASA, we are not going back into space.
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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