In semi-infinite wisdom Andrew Nowicki answered:
When a reasonable person fails to attain his
goal, he either abandons the goal or tries
a different method of attaining the goal.
An idiot is usually defined as someone who
responds to failure by doubling his efforts.

NASA is an ossified bureaucracy, but they are
not idiots. When their big SETI program failed,
they abandoned it.

No, congress told them to stop spending money
on SETI. NASA would spend trillions on SETI if
they had the funds. NASA cannot even account
for where their current funds go, after a GAO
audit.

SETI@homers ignore their
failures and have little if any interest in
modifying their search method.

What failures? SETI@home is an open research
project. Some expect it to work, but many,
myself included, think even negative evidence
worth having. We'll know what ain't there at
least.

Worse yet, they
seem to believe that some extraterrestrial
civilizations have been sending powerful
microwave beams toward the Earth for millions
of years.

I don't recall any search for extragalactic
sources. I think it's more of a 'what-if'
question that's being asked, and answered
mostly with voluntary computer power and
a hitched ride on Arecibo. Seems quite
acceptable to me. No one's being lied to,
unless they are being told that the Drake
equation is proof of ET civilizations (it
does seem a religion to many).

Why would the extraterrestrial tax
payers support such an effort?

I'm reminded of a quote by Woody Allen in
Without Feathers...

To you I'm an athiest, to god I'm the loyal opposition.

If we ever
receive their message it will say something
like: "Life is absurd. Have a happy suicide."

So I take it you're just trolling.

Have a nice day.

Rich