There certainly _is_ a national rationale to have the James Webb Space
Telescope. Advancing scientific knowledge is imperative for human
survival.

I think you're going to have a hard time convincing the average tax payer
that knowing what's going on at the end of the Universe is essential for
National Survival. Other big science projects like the collider have died -
and yet the Sun still comes up in the morning. It would be interesting to
determine what fraction of the population have even seen a Hubble image.

Val Kraut