Obama under fire for gutting NASA's human flight program

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.947744aa7f2a9543ab7c4b0e24b9136c.221&show_article=1

[Middle-aged Europe]

So Obama cuts goverment spending... conservatives should rejoice. Otherwise they're only CINOs.

[krazen1211]

NASA is a product of a different age, namely, when the government didn't spend obscene amounts of money on education and health care.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

NASA is a product of a different age, namely, when the government didn't spend obscene amounts of money on education and health care.

How was the kitten sandwich?

[Sbane]

NASA is a product of a different age, namely, when the government didn't spend obscene amounts of money on education and health care.

Yeah we should do useless sh**t rather than educate our children and take care of our elderly! How do you sleep at night?

[krazen1211]

NASA is a product of a different age, namely, when the government didn't spend obscene amounts of money on education and health care.

Yeah we should do useless sh**t rather than educate our children and take care of our elderly! How do you sleep at night?

High school graduation rates peaked in 1969 when barack obama was a child. Back when barack obama was a child and going to school, the education system didn't require the glut of teachers and massive spending it has today. The same is true of course of Medicare/caid spending and enrollments. He turned out fine.

[Peeperkorn]

Science is an end per se, but not if you're a country with trillions in debt.

[opebo]

Science is an end per se, but not if you're a country with trillions in debt.

The debt and the demise of science are both directly attributable to the golden toilet bowl phenomenon - the rich want it all.

[Sbane]

NASA is a product of a different age, namely, when the government didn't spend obscene amounts of money on education and health care.

Yeah we should do useless sh**t rather than educate our children and take care of our elderly! How do you sleep at night?

High school graduation rates peaked in 1969 when barack obama was a child. Back when barack obama was a child and going to school, the education system didn't require the glut of teachers and massive spending it has today. The same is true of course of Medicare/caid spending and enrollments. He turned out fine.

I am in favor of larger class sizes and cutting back on the goodies in Medicare (but Medicaid doesn't have those goodies so no cuts there). But spending on education and healthcare is infinitely more important than spending on NASA.

[Link]

NASA is a product of a different age, namely, when the government didn't spend obscene amounts of money on education and health care.

Yeah we should do useless sh**t rather than educate our children and take care of our elderly! How do you sleep at night?

High school graduation rates peaked in 1969 when barack obama was a child. Back when barack obama was a child and going to school, the education system didn't require the glut of teachers and massive spending it has today. The same is true of course of Medicare/caid spending and enrollments. He turned out fine.

I wouldn't want education or healthcare from 1969.  You want to compete with China with 1969 education and healthcare?  Wow.

[opebo]

I wouldn't want education or healthcare from 1969.  You want to compete with China with 1969 education and healthcare?  Wow.

Remember, Lief, 'progress' is propaganda.

[krazen1211]

High school graduation rates peaked in 1969 when barack obama was a child. Back when barack obama was a child and going to school, the education system didn't require the glut of teachers and massive spending it has today. The same is true of course of Medicare/caid spending and enrollments. He turned out fine.

I wouldn't want education or healthcare from 1969.  You want to compete with China with 1969 education and healthcare?  Wow.

Why? By objective standards both were more than reasonable, and in many ways, better.

[Insula Dei]

What exactly does an 'objective' standard for the quality of education look like?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

But spending on education and healthcare is infinitely more important than spending on NASA.

I wouldn't say infinitely, but the manned space program has done nothing of value in the past three decades that could not have been done at least as well and at less expense as unmanned missions.

There is only one space mission for which humans are needed for, colonization, and we aren't pursuing that.  At best we're doing a bit of space tourism.  If we want to be serious about space, we should make the following our mission:  Send married fertile couples to Mars and leave them there to found a colony.  No return flights are needed for the mission and they would raise the cost astronomically (no pun intended).

[krazen1211]

What exactly does an 'objective' standard for the quality of education look like?

The obama administration provides objective data on graduation rates and scale score achievement in math and reading. Both have stagnated or declined since barack obama was a child.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

yeah, nothing of educational or inspirational value going on here....move along students

[Insula Dei]

For that kind of money you can get those kids a whole lot of small and cute animals to take care of, jmfcst.

What exactly does an 'objective' standard for the quality of education look like?

The obama administration provides objective data on graduation rates and scale score achievement in math and reading. Both have stagnated or declined since barack obama was a child.

Uhm, how exactly does that tell anything about the quality of education? In the UK they manage to increase the number of A/A* scores on A-levels and the like every year in order to fetch the government a nice headline. Does that mean British children get a better education every year? I don't know about that. The number of people graduating says very little about the quality of the education they've gotten. You might just be 'dumbing down'.

The only thing that tells you anything about the relative quality of your education system are international comparative tests, which have obvious issues as well. But while the US doesn't do too hot in general on those, they do show that the US is ascending in certain fields (reading comprehension, I believe).

[Paul Kemp]

It's amusing when some cry at the top of their lungs to cut down the federal government but then are shocked when their favorites projects are on the table.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

It's amusing when some cry at the top of their lungs to cut down the federal government but then are shocked when their favorites projects are on the table.

it amazing how you libs like to use strawman arguments....the clear truth is that we conservatives want to tear apart the state's nanny side that sucks and is in shambles, not the state's badassery side that rocks and displays America's exceptionalism.

[krazen1211]

For that kind of money you can get those kids a whole lot of small and cute animals to take care of, jmfcst.

What exactly does an 'objective' standard for the quality of education look like?

The obama administration provides objective data on graduation rates and scale score achievement in math and reading. Both have stagnated or declined since barack obama was a child.

Uhm, how exactly does that tell anything about the quality of education? In the UK they manage to increase the number of A/A* scores on A-levels and the like every year in order to fetch the government a nice headline. Does that mean British children get a better education every year? I don't know about that. The number of people graduating says very little about the quality of the education they've gotten. You might just be 'dumbing down'.

The only thing that tells you anything about the relative quality of your education system are international comparative tests, which have obvious issues as well. But while the US doesn't do too hot in general on those, they do show that the US is ascending in certain fields (reading comprehension, I believe).

The education scale scores have consistently been measured on a scale of 500. It is only natural to see that a constant score likely equals about constant performance.

The government education industry complex of course resists any further forms of objective evaluation. It must be nice to be able to order up billions in additional educational spending and not have to demostrate any output.

[DrScholl]

There isn't any money for nonsense and that's exactly what NASA is at this point, nonsense. You cannot be a hypocrite about cuts, but then, it really isn't about cuts, it's more about opposing the President at every turn.

[Paul Kemp]

It's amusing when some cry at the top of their lungs to cut down the federal government but then are shocked when their favorites projects are on the table.

it amazing how you libs like to use strawman arguments....the clear truth is that we conservatives want to tear apart the state's nanny side that sucks and is in shambles, not the state's badassery side that rocks and displays America's exceptionalism.

Thanks for proving my point.

[Link]

High school graduation rates peaked in 1969 when barack obama was a child. Back when barack obama was a child and going to school, the education system didn't require the glut of teachers and massive spending it has today. The same is true of course of Medicare/caid spending and enrollments. He turned out fine.

I wouldn't want education or healthcare from 1969.  You want to compete with China with 1969 education and healthcare?  Wow.

Why? By objective standards both were more than reasonable, and in many ways, better.

Wow.  So abolish CT scans and MRIs?!  Are you Republicans serious?  That's your plan?

Obama '12... the sane choice.

[Link]

yeah, nothing of educational or inspirational value going on here....move along students

The space shuttle makes a pretty picture for the idiocracy but amongst the scientists that actually work in astronomy and astrophysics there have been real questions about manned space flight for years.  Far more science is obtained from unmanned probes and satellites for the money spent.

The Space Shuttle is one of the worst examples of human space flight.  It is overly complex, dangerous, and ridiculously expensive.  Plus it never worked as intended.  That is not to say it didn't have its positive points but if you are going to get rid of waste fraud and abuse you should definitely go after a multibillion dollar boondoggle.

That's the nature of slashing budgets my Republican friend.  Like others on here have tried to explain to you when the budget gets slashed some of your pet projects are going to suffer too.  I guess you'll just have to watch cheesy action movies if you want to inspire yourself with images like that.

I love it one guy wants to get rid of CT scans and MRIs and the other wants to fund a multibillion dollar flying death trap.  What a macabre party.

[krazen1211]

High school graduation rates peaked in 1969 when barack obama was a child. Back when barack obama was a child and going to school, the education system didn't require the glut of teachers and massive spending it has today. The same is true of course of Medicare/caid spending and enrollments. He turned out fine.

I wouldn't want education or healthcare from 1969.  You want to compete with China with 1969 education and healthcare?  Wow.

Why? By objective standards both were more than reasonable, and in many ways, better.

Wow.  So abolish CT scans and MRIs?!  Are you Republicans serious?  That's your plan?

Obama '12... the sane choice.

You're either not very smart or intentionally being dense.