On Tuesday, March 11, 2014 10:27:39 AM UTC-4, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Tue, 11 Mar 2014 03:37:50 -0700 (PDT), wsnell01 wrote:

Perhaps Congress needs to adjust its priorities, with less wasted on pork (vote buying) and more spent on space (not Earth) exploration.

I'd agree with that.

You aren't agreeing.

We could scale back military spending by more
than 50% over the next decade or two.

The military is not the pork here. The military protects the entire country, whereas pork barrel expenditures are favors to local constituencies, expenditures not spelled out in the Constitution, BTW.


That would free up enough money
for countless useful projects- projects that would actually generate
revenue. Space exploration, alternative energy, medical research.

Money saved on any reduced military spending is to remain in the pockets of the taxpayers.

As we now know with a high degree
of certainty that the world is in deep trouble due to climate change,
and part of NASA's primary charter is studying the Earth and its
climate, it makes good sense they should shift what resources they
have to that. Understanding the Earth in more detail has become the
most important thing NASA can do.

Wrong. Its most important duty has always been and still is, to develop space hardware, especially launch vehicles.

Studying the Earth and its climate has been a primary component of its
charter since day one. That doesn't exclude the other stuff.

But you suggested in your earlier post:

"studying the Earth and its climate, it makes good sense they should shift
what resources they have to that"

That effectively excludes the "other stuff" which then leaves the US without a space program. But that's what you socialists have wanted all along.