Category Archives: Political Commentary

They’re Baaaaaccckkk

George Abbey and Neal Lane have a new white paper on space policy recommendations. I haven’t read it yet, but I expect it to be pretty bad, based on history.

[Update a few minutes later]

OK, I skimmed it. Other than the recommendation to cancel Ares 1, almost everything else is wrong. Certainly turning our backs on missions beyond LEO is, as is a focus on energy and the environment. There are other agencies responsible for this. I was amused by this:

It is distressing to observe the current state of the U.S. space program as the nation moves into a new progressive era with the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009.

Emphasis mine. I don’t think that word means what they think it means.

[Mid-afternoon update]

Like one of the commenters over at NASA Watch, I too am shocked, shocked that John Muratore wants to revive X-38 and come back in a lifting body.

A Taxpayer March On Washington?

It seems like it’s getting to be time for this. The problem is that people who pay taxes are too busy working to earn the money on which to pay taxes to have time to go to Washington. Massive marches on Washington are reserved for those with no jobs, or nothing to do, or because they are on the dole of some kind, sometimes aided by federal subsidization of “community organizers” like ACORN.

That’s one of the reasons that big-government programs are a positive-feedback ratchet that are almost impossible to reverse. The programs have their own built-in constituencies, that are funded by the programs to allow them to agitate for more, while the ever-shrinking rest of us who are trying to actually earn a living get stuck with the bill. It can’t go on forever, of course, but it can go on long enough to ruin a nation.