Alabama lawmakers express desire to protect funding of Huntsville NASA facilities.
Normally I would call this a typical squeal for funds (and we do see so-called conservative Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) squealing a bit) , but the article makes it clear that everyone involved (even the journalist!) has real doubts about the wisdom of funding these programs with the present federal debt.
Clark Lindsey of www.rlvnews.com/ has posted some interesting thoughts in reaction to the successful launch of the Air Force’s second reusable X-37b yesterday and how this relates to NASA’s budget battles in Congress. Key quote for me:
Charles Bolden doesn’t seem prepared to make a forceful case against the clear and obvious dumbness of the HLV/Orion program. Perhaps he in fact wants a make-work project for NASA to sustain the employee base.
As I’ve said before, the program-formerly-called-Constellation is nothing more than pork, and will never get built. Why waste any money on it now?
Union civility: An Ohio Republican state senator has received threats from police union officials and members, both on Facebook and in person.
A Los Angeles suburb has laid off almost half its government workforce in an effort to stave off bankruptcy.
Walker notifies unions of layoffs, but gives Democrats 15 days to reverse move. This article is a nice summary of the present situation in Wisconsin.
Due to the budget situation, it appears that planetary scientists have scaled back their plans for future NASA missions to other planets.
We will know more on Monday, when the planetary community releases its much awaited decadal survey, outlining their recommendations for the next decade.
How can anyone take this administration seriously? On Wednesday Obama announces that Biden will be his lead negotiator with Congress on the budget, even though Biden already had a prearranged trip to Europe beginning on Monday. He attended one meeting on Thursday, and then said goodbye!
Couldn’t be soon enough for me! Two senate Republicans introduced a bill on Friday to defund public radio and television.
Great Britain has slashed its UN contribution, including eliminating all funds to four UN agencies. Key quote:
The British actions change the focus of the debate, from gauzy generalizations about the need for and importance of the U.N. to a realistic look at what it actually achieves.
The new civility: Sheriff deputies find rounds of live ammunition outside the Wisconsin capitol building.
This is a typical union warning to those whom they dislike. When I was producing non-union movies in New York City back in the 1980s it was not unusual for me to find live rounds appearing in unexpected places on the set.
Cutting the federal budget — two weeks at a time.
Some thoughts on how a government shutdown would affect NASA.
As the 14 Wisconsin Democrats run, meet the numerous Illinois Tea Party activists giving chase.
This is why I call it pork and a waste of money: NASA’s chief technologist admits it will be a decade before Orion and the heavy-lift rocket mandated by Congress flies.
Two high-priority climate missions dropped from NASA’s budget by the White House. And what’s most amazing: No one’s squealing!
“Removal of these missions was not what we desired and not what the administration desired, but it was a clear recognition and acknowledgement of the budget issues we face as a nation,” [said Steve Volz, associate director for flight programs at NASA’s Earth Science Division]. “It’s cleaner to be allowed to delete the scope that goes along with the dollars than to have to figure out how to do more with less.”
I have mostly focused on the federal budget battles. However, Wisconsin highlights how the same battle is going on at the state level. Here is a round-up of the state budget efforts under several Republican administrations, put forth by a California newspaper (located in a Democrat-run state with its own budget problems).
Have the Democrats blinked? Senate Democrats have expressed support for the most recent House Republican proposal, a short-term continuing resolution that cuts $4 billion for its two week span and terminates 8 programs outright. A lot more details here, including a program-by-program breakdown of the cuts. Key quote:
Republicans have made abundantly clear that they wish to avoid a government shutdown, as have Democrats to a degree, though for the most part they [the Democrats] have spent the last few weeks preemptively blaming Republicans for a shutdown, while at the same time failing to produce a single piece of legislation that would prevent one.
So what the shuttle is being retired! Space tourism is poised to blast off in the next two years.
The cries and squeals are now coming from all sides: A former undersecretary for Science in the Energy Department during the Bush administration, Raymond L. Orbach, has joined the chorus of scientists whining about the House’s proposed cuts. [His full editorial, available here as a pdf, can only be downloaded if you subscribe to Science.]
Like all the other squealers, he admits that “the budget deficit is serious.” Nonetheless, the idea of cutting his pet science programs remains unacceptable.
It is when I read stuff like this that feel the situation is most hopeless. Is there no one willing to accept the reality that if we don’t start gaining some control over the federal budget the country will go bankrupt and we will not be able to afford anything?
Instead, all I hear are cries of “Cut! Cut! But don’t cut my program!”
The squealing of mayors: the U.S. Conference of Mayors attack the proposed House spending cuts.
