Category Archives: Business

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space

“Why Doesn’t The Press Report On This?”

19 Comments

Gene Cernan admits that when he testified before Congress, he didn’t know what he didn’t know:

Some, like Charlie Duke and Al Bean, were effusive in their praise of SpaceX and the next generation of space explorers. Al Bean spent 20 minutes writing rough drafts and crafting each word of his message with the SpaceX team in mind.

Then I approached Gene Cernan, and held my breath. I figured it would be a bit more difficult to break from the social proof of his esteemed colleagues. And so he listened. As with every Apollo astronaut who signed this photo, I was able to talk about SpaceX and answer his questions. Gene was interested in who financed SpaceX — what big money interests got it going. I told him that Elon Musk personally financed the company for all of its first $100 million, when no one else would bet on the venture, and he saw it through thick and thin, including the first three launches of the Falcon 1, all of which failed spectacularly. As I told him these stories of heroic entrepreneurship, I could see his mind turning. He found a reconciliation: “I never read any of this in the news. Why doesn’t the press report on this?”

Good question.

[Update early afternoon]

Clark Lindsey mirrors my thoughts:

…it was always clear that Cernan and Armstrong had not done their homework on SpaceX or on NASA’s commercial crew program in general. They didn’t know a lot of rudimentary facts about the CCP, such as the involvement of Boeing and ULA, and had not visited the entrants in the program. It should not have required a perfect mission to the ISS to get them to take the time to learn about SpaceX. Their criticisms of the CCP in the hearings got tremendous press attention and played a role in the underfunding of the CCP and the partial restoration of the Constellation hardware.

It was truly a disservice to the nation. I hope that at least they’ll try to make up for it in the future.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Promises, Promises

7 Comments

The president has a lot to be held to account for:

The problem for Obama is that his predictions were not only wrong; they were terribly wide of the mark. For example, since the president was sworn in, America has suffered a net decline of roughly half a million jobs. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual premium for family health coverage through an employer reached $15,073 in 2011—an increase of 9 percent, or $1,303, over the previous year. The 9 percent increase in family premiums between 2010 and 2011 followed an increase of 3 percent between 2009 and 2010. Under Obama, the number of foreclosures was the worst in history. In addition, last year was the worst sales year on record for housing, while home values are nearly 35 percent lower than they were five years ago.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 41 consecutive months. The deficit was around $1.3 trillion the day Obama took office in the midst of the financial crisis; according to the Congressional Budget Office, in the current 2012 budget year, the deficit will be around $1.25 trillion. And a record 46 million Americans are now living in poverty.

In addition, during the Obama years we’ve experienced the weakest economic recovery on record. America’s credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history. The standard of living for Americans fell more steeply than at any time since the government began recording it five decades ago. Income for American families has actually declined more following the economic recession than it did during the official recession itself.

Change!

[Update a few minutes later]

Heh. ObamanomicsOutsourced.com.