The US is failing.
[Monday-morning update]
DARPA is getting interested.
Category Archives: Political Commentary
The American Gun Debate
…started a quarter of a millennium ago.
Worth contemplating in the current context of increasing calls for violence from leftists to “save our democracy.”
Fixing NASA
Jim Meigs has a long essay at the Manhattan Institute that quotes Yours Truly several times.
[Friday-morning update]
Bob Zimmerman writes that we don’t need no stinkin’ government program to get to the Moon.
Not sure I agree. The race to the poles was all about prestige, and America didn’t need it, but the race to the Moon is about resources, and we don’t want China to be making claims. But I agree that the best policy would be that which encourages private actors, and Isaacman is the ideal NASA administrator to do that.
Why DOGE Is Important
Tax payers have been funding our opponents. If DOGE continues, the real political dynamic of the US will emerge. This, not the deficit, is why DOGE matters so much. https://t.co/qS9zxGddJ7
— Randy Barnett (@RandyEBarnett) April 14, 2025
The Senior Ranks Of The Military
Time for a major purge.
This Should Terrify The Corrupt NGOs
🚨 New tool in the works! 🚨
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) April 15, 2025
Today I've been deep in the guts of something ambitious: a system to cross-check Form 990 data, audit reports, and federal spending to flag when an org’s stated purpose doesn’t match where the money’s actually going. 🕵️♂️💸
Here’s how it’s coming…
If I believed in God, I’d say she’s doing His work.
“Why Do I Have Guns?”
…because of people like Taylor Lorenz.
The Proposed “Science Budget Cuts” At NASA
Bob Zimmerman says that there are things deserving of cutting.
I certainly agree about Mars Sample Return, and said that on X this morning. I think we need a dramatic change in how these funds are allocated and prioritized, and the current decadal needs to be completely redone.
But I also don’t pay much attention to what OMB says at this point in the process.
I would add that it’s inappropriate for OMB to propose a NASA budget ahead of the confirmation of a NASA administrator who has been named for months. I wouldn’t put up with it if I were president. I personally consider OMB’s NASA budget proposal DOA, and I hope that Trump does as…
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) April 14, 2025
The Bloodless Coup Of The NGOs
Over the last few months, we’ve come to a realization that should have landed much harder: NGOs weren’t just adjacent to government, they were the parallel government. We were shocked. I was too. But looking back, it’s exactly what you’d expect. NGOs operate outside the chain of… https://t.co/xNu8jZKDzt
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) April 13, 2025
[Monday-afternoon update]
I've been thinking on the below post, about the NGO problem.
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) April 14, 2025
The Left is structured as a network of NGOs: ruthlessly efficient and ready to act the moment power changes hands.
The Right has no equivalent infrastructure. If I sit down and ask myself, "How would I start an NGO to… https://t.co/v8e9VDbjC6
Today’s Hearing
Haven’t read yet, but here‘s Eric Berger’s take.
Mine?
He has to be confirmed. He shouldn’t have dodged the question about whether Elon was present, though. It needlessly made him look evasive, and he’s not going to get Markey’s vote regardless of how he answered the question. He clearly separated himself from Elon on both the Moon and ISS.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here’s his opening statement:
The NASA Administrator we desperately need. ☑️🚀 https://t.co/bL1zf4J2DH
— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) April 9, 2025
[Saturday-morning update]
Thoughts from Jim Meigs, who quotes Yours Truly based on a DM exchange on X:
Note the tense. He says he currently believes that. He didn’t say “I do and always will believe” that. That is, he left space to change his mind given new information (such as that I will provide in the upcoming Reason study), without perjuring himself to the Senate.
“Republican senator Jerry Moran of Kansas asked whether Isaacman was fully committed to this plan. ‘This is the current plan,’ Isaacman replied. ‘I do believe it is the best and fastest way to get there.’ Underscoring his support, Isaacman had invited the four Artemis II astronauts to attend the hearing with him.”
It’s hard to believe, and frustrating to realize, on the 64th anniversary of the first man in orbit, that space policy remains such a mess.
[Bumped]