The point I'm making is that we could be spending our taxpayer's money on a space program or defence, but we choose to spend it mostly on services like free prescriptions and so on. However, the space program is a tough thing to debate with respect to America because America brings a lot to the world through their space research.
A point of interest here is that NASA's budget is only a little bigger then Scotland's healthcare costs ($19 billion vs. $16 billion) and not all of NASA's budget is space stuff (National
Air and Space Agency). So a worldclass space program costs as much as healthcare costs for a smallish region. NASA is chump change in the US federal budget.
This prompts me to wonder actually if you could see a smallish but wealthy nation actually decide to become the leader in space. Canada for instance has federal revenues of around C$255 (.98C$=1US$). So NASA wouldn't be a pittance for them but it would be something they could afford.
Unfortunately, this is one thing the administration thinks private industry can do better. Never mind the fact that private industry lives for profit while NASA lived for scientific exploration. But hey, nothing can possibly go wrong a space program built from the ground up by for-profit enterprises, right? RIGHT?
I thought this before hand but I've actually been pretty pleased. The private space industry is mostly full of investors who love space, not ones who are looking to make a quick buck. And by escaping the congressional pork barrel process it seems that more efficient supply chains are emerging which will save money and create safety. I won't guarantee that this will continue forever but right now it's very promising.
And with some of the new poll data for Ohio, RCP's electoral count has 265 for Obama. He could literally lose all but one of the "toss-up" states (assuming it's not New Hampshire) and still win the election. If trends continue and Florida pops out of toss-up and into "Leans Democrat", he'll be starting the election over the victory mark. Still have to consider the ever-lurking "October Surprise", but so far the only candidates for that role are the Benghazi consular attack (which Romney deftly blunted the effect of by coming off as a smug asshole more concerned about scoring political points than having any empathy for the dead) and the "47%" comment which has been a major self-inflicted wound to Team Romney.
I'd say that Nevada is more in the bank then Florida. Romney hasn't won a poll there since April. But if Obama wins Florida then he could even afford to lose Ohio.
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Topic: American Election Megathread - It's Over (Read 770899 times)