Posted on 02/01/2007 9:45:45 AM PST by Fitzcarraldo
PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
< Source: Rep. Dave Weldon
If Enacted, Would Be Worst Cuts to Space Exploration Since 1993
Urges Senate to Reverse Irresponsible Choice by House Dems
In a fiscal year 2007 budget released today, the new Democrat majority proposed sweeping cuts to NASA's budget that could jeopardized the future of space exploration. U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-FL), who represents many workers from NASA and Kennedy Space Center, called the cuts draconian, saying the Democrat leadership is using NASA and our nation's space program as a piggy bank for other liberal spending priorities.
"The raid on NASA's budget has begun in earnest. The cuts announced today by House Democrat leaders, if approved by Congress, would be nearly $400 million less than NASA's current budget," said Weldon.
"Clearly, the new Democrat leadership in the House isn't interested in space exploration. Their omnibus proposal lists hundreds of new increases, including a $1.3 billion increase‹over 40% for a Global AIDS fund, all at the expense of NASA."
Much of the proposed cuts would come from NASA's Exploration budget, which includes funding for the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), the future replacement for the current shuttle fleet. According to Weldon, these particular cuts would jeopardize thousands of jobs in Florida, Alabama, and Texas.
Weldon today led a bi-partisan group of colleagues, including Reps. Ralph Hall (D-TX), and Tom Feeney (R-FL), in offering two amendments to the bill that would restore NASA's funding.
"Rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans alike are aghast at the treatment the Democrat Leadership has shown to NASA. To gut the exploration account in particular is clearly meant to be a stick in the eye to the President and the initiative he announced three years ago."
Speaker Pelosi is not expected to allow any amendments to today's omnibus bill, continuing the closed legislative process that has plagued the current Congress since its opening day. Consequently, Weldon said the future of NASA funding will likely hinge on the Senate.
"The Senate leadership, including Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), has yet to speak to the draconian cuts being proposed. I hope they're alerted to the message the House sent today and will propose funding in line with NASA's overall mission and the President's original request to ensure a smooth transition to the new launch vehicle."
:)
Never really looked at it that way. I never put the space program in the same pocket with supporting the troops. There may be some military people involved with the space program. Your right the welfare and wealth redistribution is worse waste of funds than the space program.
The items you were responding to inspired a king-sized, neon-lit "WTF" on this end of the keyboard. You have my sympathies.
No you are a ignorant jackass...
Are you an illegal? It is obvious you are because you have no idea on how to write English. Please leave our country and come back when you are able to be an American. Your ignorance of English has made you a laughingstock here at FREEPERS. It is a shame because you probably could be a contributor to this thread but your stupidity is glowing.
There are many military folks involved, you just don't see much about them, and I wont elaborate.
For better or worse, the shuttle design was DoD driven, and you probably recall several flights many years back when they carried classified payloads. The Challenger failure changed a lot of that, so today the remaining shuttles are really over built for the Non DoD missions.
NASA is like any other agency. It has its meat and its fat. But by and large, it still does a lot to drive research in many important areas that flow down to the troops as well as to the general economy. Cant say the same for midnight basketball.
I find that the anti-NASA folks tend to lack any sort of imagination.
NASA should immediately layoff, and thus toss the entire failure of the present and future space program into the dims faces.
I never really thought that taking our country back, by force, would happen in my lifetime, but the way these dims are going, I almost look forward to the day.
Most likely the ability to see the future..
Yes they are.
Of course the original reason we went into space is still the best reason, and that's the military one.
When the Chinese are free to lob missiles at us from their moon base, people like you who helped enable it will wonder how that happened.
Any technology fallout is just gravy.
They would take hours, if not days to get here.
Even if it took 100 years to get here, without access to space, there wouldn't be a thing we could do about it.
If they were designed correctly, they could blast towards their targets here on earth at over 5000 miles an hour.
Our missile defenses would be useless.
Their moon bases would be sitting ducks.
Sitting ducks for what?
Without the ability to launch anything into space, you can't reach the moon.
None of our existing (declassified) missiles are capable of getting into orbit, much less to the moon. We'd be the sitting ducks.
The US has rockets that can reach the moon. Just put warheads on 'em!
I know it. Like talking to a freaking wall. "Bidding against NASA" for work funded by NASA? What kind of crap is that?
Well, we will see what Nelson, Butch Mikulski, and Steny Hoyer will do for thier constituents. However, most people who work at NASA HQ are libs and gladly voted for the Dem leadership. Now they get to worry about their jobs.
I stand corrected on the Nasa/Apollo history. Thank you and I do appreciate the detail.
Your argument about the Apollo follow-on seems to prove my point. Nasa invented ways to keep spending money on projects that should have been moth-balled over a couple years, not decades.
I know how government contracts work. That is why I want Nasa eliminated because imo, they are the worse of the worse when it comes contract management. Whatever military projects Nasa has that are reviewed to be feasible should be rolled into the Defense Department. The remaining projects should be scrapped, or passed to other Departments to bid out and control.
How about we return to the real issue at hand. Can you tell me what the heck we got over the past dozen years/$150 billion we've poured into Nasa? None of the defenders have thus far.
The R&D project bidding for all departments stink because I always felt like they should do the initial R&D bids as 2 or 3 seperate victor award, not just the best bid. Yea it would be more cost up front, but I believe that any products which come out of the R&D projects would have a cheaper cost to produce/maintain because you have 2 or 3 legitimate entities who have the technical expertise to continue working on it. Plus with each R&D winner knowing there are 1 or 2 others competing for all follow-ons, I surmise that this would lead to better/faster technological break-throughs and lower production bids/cost. Because they can rebid the real production contracts to a sole provider knowing that multiple entities may each have the technical capability to perform. If that contractor fails, rebid it or move it.
When they (Nasa, pentagon (DD), etc.) sole source the initial R&D, it's hard for the follow-ons to go elsewhere (ignoring politics and congressional graft for the moment here) without there first being huge overruns on the initial production deliveries.
With regard to nano-technology projects which Nasa may or may not be doing, why have those in the space agency at all? I'd prefer more direct congressional insight and control so these projects are clearly defined and scoped over a limited time period. This is so we do not continue to create giant new bureaucracies which soon become outrageously expense and provide little or negative value.
For example, I opposed the formation of a new federalized TSA after 911 because I believe there is just no way that having the feds hire and oversee another bunch of high-school dropouts is going to do anything to increase flight safety. And ultimately it will be another giant worthless waste of money.
Three years ago, President George W. Bush told NASA to return American astronauts to the Moon. Geoff Brumfiel reports on how far they have got.
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