All posts by Rand Simberg

Political Commentary

Cut Pork For Thee, But Not For Me

I’d like to think that this polling result is as significant as Instapundit thinks:

Among all Americans, a 39% plurality say the single most important thing for Congress to accomplish this year is curtailing budgetary “earmarks” benefiting only certain constituents.

Sounds like a political tsunami that will sweep away earmarks, right?

Probably not. First of all, though the number is high, it’s not a majority. And even if it were, there’s a familiar phenomenon, in which large numbers disapprove of Congress, but like their own Congress(wo)man. It’s all those other clowns that are the problem. I suspect that they’ll have the same attitude toward pork. They oppose it in principle, but when it comes to benefitting them, I suspect that most people will take the money and let their Congressman run. One man’s pork is another man’s vital district need.

Administrative

D’oh!!

I must be getting senile.

I almost always take a red eye back to Florida from LA, so I’ve been going merrily along for the past few days thinking I had a flight tonight. Well, when I logged on this morning to see if I could improve my seat, I discovered that my reservation was cancelled. Why? Because I was supposed to leave this morning.

No credit for the ticket. The only way to get back without buying a one-way is to go standby. So I’m off to LAX, with hope in my heart for a seat on a plane to Dallas, and then hoping I won’t get stuck in Dallas because there’s nothing available to Fort Lauderdale (the flight I missed was a non-stop that would have had me in about three this afternoon).

Probably no blogging for the rest of the day, unless there’s wireless in a terminal.

Administrative

D’oh!!

I must be getting senile.

I almost always take a red eye back to Florida from LA, so I’ve been going merrily along for the past few days thinking I had a flight tonight. Well, when I logged on this morning to see if I could improve my seat, I discovered that my reservation was cancelled. Why? Because I was supposed to leave this morning.

No credit for the ticket. The only way to get back without buying a one-way is to go standby. So I’m off to LAX, with hope in my heart for a seat on a plane to Dallas, and then hoping I won’t get stuck in Dallas because there’s nothing available to Fort Lauderdale (the flight I missed was a non-stop that would have had me in about three this afternoon).

Probably no blogging for the rest of the day, unless there’s wireless in a terminal.

Administrative

D’oh!!

I must be getting senile.

I almost always take a red eye back to Florida from LA, so I’ve been going merrily along for the past few days thinking I had a flight tonight. Well, when I logged on this morning to see if I could improve my seat, I discovered that my reservation was cancelled. Why? Because I was supposed to leave this morning.

No credit for the ticket. The only way to get back without buying a one-way is to go standby. So I’m off to LAX, with hope in my heart for a seat on a plane to Dallas, and then hoping I won’t get stuck in Dallas because there’s nothing available to Fort Lauderdale (the flight I missed was a non-stop that would have had me in about three this afternoon).

Probably no blogging for the rest of the day, unless there’s wireless in a terminal.

Space

A Classic Of The Genre

…of space economics fallacies, the topic of my panel discussion at Space Access on Friday night:

…did you ever think about what is involved in presenting anything to the general public? When is the last time you purchased, studied, or otherwise became interested in a subject that was not in some way advertised to you? I would say, “never”. The time, and sometimes dollar, investments are heavy, but necessary if there is anything worthwhile to say. Getting information out to people costs a lot, but the return will, hopefully, be worth it. How? In terms of public support for the program, backed up with funding to make it possible. This, in turn, provides jobs for engineers, scientists, and, well, you. They, subsequently, provide jobs and income for car salesmen, lawyers, doctors, service providers, restaurant owners, teachers, website owners, and all who get pieces of the income spent by the space workers.

Yes, it’s all about job creation. Who cares if anything useful is accomplished, or wealth created?

This (flawed) argument would apply to any government program–there’s nothing unique about NASA with regard to it. I beat this one to a pulp a few years ago, but people still fall prey to it.