[JohnGalt]

The Lousiana Purchase was viewed as un-Constitutional almost universally in my native land, and most of Jefferson's ideolgogical friends branded him a traitor to their political philosophy for his big government maneuver. Same for Lewis & Clark's expedition which assuredly could have been privately funded, however, the cost for the program was faily low and oversite was stringent as they had to document every step.

How many people from NASA (need another seven astronauts) were fired over their latest disaster?

Do you believe its okay to steal from your neigbor to pay for your favorit socialist program?

[Land of the Free 04]

Some people seem to think that "conservatism" means stealing our money to spend on different things than liberals steal our money for.

[TigerTale]

"The Lousiana Purchase was viewed as un-Constitutional almost universally in my native land"

Is the United States your native land?

One sovereign nation purchasing land from another sovereign nation is not socialism. It can only be done by the equivalent of a treaty, something expressly prohibited to the States. Are you prepared to declare unconstitutional all U.S. territorial acquisitions beyond the original 13 colonies?

Do you think it would be unconstitutional to withdraw from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (which prohibits national territorial claims in space) and annex the Moon? If so, was it also unconstitutional to annex Texas and Hawaii?

If territorial acquisition is constitutional, then what sense is there in prohibiting the exploration of such territory. It would be a strange argument to say the United States has the authority to acquire territory, but no authority to examine and explore it before or after the acquisition.

Not everything the government does is socialism.

May I assume that you believe it would be better if France still owned most of the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky mountains? Does your ideology supercede practicality?

[hopespringseternal]

The Lousiana Purchase was viewed as un-Constitutional

Oh, for the days when unconstitutional acts of treason looked like this.

Actually, the military has done quite a bit of exploration, and probably should be answering China's space initiatives. Except that we are far too squeemish for that sort of open competition. NASA was created so that we could stress our peaceful nature in contrast to the Soviets' militaristic endeavors.