In article ,
says...
rk wrote in
:

Scott M. Kozel wrote:


"Inertia and Indecision at NASA"
_New York Times_ - August 27, 2003

The evidence suggests that, like Mr. Reagan, Mr. Bush might be
tempted to go with small fixes rather than big new ideas. He
has not publicly discussed the space program or its goals at
any length since he spoke at a memorial service for the
Columbia astronauts in February. The subject was scarcely
mentioned in his 2000 campaign, or in his administration's
national security strategy.

Reagan approved and supported the space station, which was a rather
big program in my opinion.

And X-30.

Also, he increased the budget
substantially for a replacement shuttle along with fixes over around
2 1/2 years. If I remember the data correctly, support (as measured
in dollars, for what it's worth) was good under Reagan, more or less
stable under Bush 41, dropped under Clinton I and II, and is more or
less steady under 42. [Disclaimer: I'm no Reagan fan]

Here's the actuals:

FY GDP NASA
Price Budget ($M,FY %
Index ($M,RY) 2004) chg Comments
1958 0.2152 $ 89 $ 471 N/A First NASA budget
1961 0.2243 $ 744 $ 3,776 702% Eisenhower's (R) last budget
1964 0.2325 $ 4,171 $20,424 441% Kennedy's (D) last budget
1966 0.2417 $ 5,933 $27,947 N/A NASA budget peak
1969 0.2701 $ 4,251 $17,918 -12% Johnson's (D) last budget
1975 0.3867 $ 3,269 $ 9,624 -46% Nixon's (R) last budget
1977 0.4451 $ 4,002 $10,237 6% Ford's (R) last budget
1981 0.6142 $ 5,537 $10,264 0% Carter's (D) last budget
1989 0.8293 $11,036 $15,151 48% Reagan's (R) last budget
1993 0.9393 $14,305 $17,339 14% Bush(41)'s (R) last budget
2001 1.0940 $14,095 $14,668 -15% Clinton's (D) last budget
2004 1.1385 $15,469 $15,469 5% Bush(43)'s (R) current budget request

Ah, but remember -- Clinton's NASA budgets were influenced by NASA
management, which was working with Dan Goldin's "cheaper, better, faster"
approach and the Kraft Commission's report that the Shuttle program could
be run on far less money because it was a mature and inherently safe
transportation system.

Also, it was during Clinton's terms that the government got serious about
eliminating deficit spending. It's easy to increase spending on any
number of endeavors when you're not worried about balancing the budget.

I'm very much in support of increasing funding for space exploration, and
I'm not happy with budget cuts. I just have no use for the Republican
Lockstep Movement, which tries to lead goose-stepping masses in knee-jerk
Clinton bashing. I mean, if you're the President and NASA tells you that
they can operate the Shuttle program on far less money (with no less than
Christopher Columbus Kraft telling you so), AND you're dealing with a
bunch of Republican congressmen who keep threatening to shut down the
government unless you balance the budget, you'd probably cut the Shuttle
budget some, as well...

--

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for | Doug Van Dorn
thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup |