When I hired onto NASA many moons ago, I was thinking of the awesome opportuinity to work on something historic. I didn't think about contractor versus government. My goal and focus is on helping to explore and understand the vast unknown of space, because I think that our future depends on it. Historically governments have funded exploriations of new worlds until it becomes cost effective for private interests. Perhaps we are there now....I hope we are.
As for the Hatch Act, I am not in violation...here is an excerpt from the Office of Special Counsel regarding what government employees may do:
be candidates for public office in nonpartisan elections
register and vote as they choose
assist in voter registration drives
express opinions about candidates and issues
contribute money to political organizations
attend political fundraising functions
attend and be active at political rallies and meetings
join and be an active member of a political party or club
sign and circulate nominating petitions
campaign for or against referendum questions, constitutional amendments, municipal ordinances
campaign for or against candidates in partisan elections
make campaign speeches for candidates in partisan elections
distribute campaign literature in partisan elections
hold office in political clubs or parties
volunteer to work on a partisan political campaign
I believe in limited government and states rights. We can get bogged down in the details, but I would rather find common ground... I hope limited/Constitutional government is something that most here agree on.
I hope we can emphasize what we agree on and not what divides us. That is the only way that we will succeed.
Again, I apologize for upsetting you...that wasn't my goal.
You misunderstood me. How can I be mad at you? I don’t even know you.
I just used your post to educate FReepers on the disparity working environment at NASA (and other Federal Agencies as well.) The fact that you don’t see the hypocrisy inherent in your comments was my point. I imagine most people that work for NASA (civil service or contractor) went to work there with the noblest intentions (and many still believe they still have the best intentions), but that changes little the damage they cause to the goal they profess to have - opening space for all.
Again some of this is a science vs. engineering debate of what should be done in space - study/explore it vs. develop/colonize it. Scientists are happy to keep space exclusive, dangerous and expensive. If the rest of use are to really get a chance to actually do something in space, it has to become open, safer and affordable. NASA has very little motivation to forward these causes, even when threatened with financial/political starvation. They just jettison the contractors and reduce their grandiose plans. As long as THEY keep their paycheck, they can always come up with some ridiculously frivolous aspect of space to study - they don’t even have the “publish or perish” motivation that drives the academic research community to occasionally do something to justify their funding.
Although you are not technically in violation of the Hatch Act (it is good that you are aware of what is clearly out of bounds), it could be argued that you are dancing on the edge of the intention of the Hatch Act to avoid government employees from advocating greater funding of their employer, the government, at the expense of the citizens who actually pay them. But don’t feel too bad, everyone from 0bama to the lowliest SEIU janitor feels entitled to lobby to take more money out of our pockets to put into their own.