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Phoenix Mars Lander Hits Halfway Point
It doesn't come easy writes "There is a nice write-up over at Space.com about Phoenix, NASA's next Mars lander. The article includes a few more details about the steps NASA is taking to ensure a successful mission." The Phoenix project was first given the green light earlier this year and hopes to benefit from some hard lessons learned on earlier projects.
Sounds of an alien world
only congress can change the tax law
The president, through veto power alone, has at least as much power as congress (if they don't like it, they veto, and congressional supermajorities are very rare). However, it doesn't end there: the administration sets their party's political agenda in congress. As if that's not enough, they have the huge bludgeon of media attention to their statements to help shove it through. Then, their cabinet is in charge of the implementation of the passed legislation. We have a very strong executive in our system of government.
Besides, new budgets have to be approved annually, so the issue always comes up.
sed "s/SJW.*$/... never mind. I was about to say something stupid, and also, I'm a troglodyte./Ig"
The president, through veto power alone, has at least as much power as congress (if they don't like it, they veto, and congressional supermajorities are very rare). However, it doesn't end there: the administration sets their party's political agenda in congress
But the whole point is that if the majority of the country doesn't like the way that, say, congress is doing things (along partisan lines), the administration will only be able to set the agenda for the minority in the house. That leaves the president unable to do much of anything, other than (as you say) work within what they've been handed and spend accordingly.
Yes, the cabinet officials direct the operations of their departments, but huge swaths of their budgets are legislatively directed towards specific programs, certain ratios of this vs. that, and other limitations/obligations that don't really give them much wiggle room.
One might be inclined to think that, say, the DOD would be the biggest as-they-see-fit spender, but when it comes to big ticket items, like opening or closing bases, or adopting/discarding weapons programs, peacekeeping in Bosnia, or rebuilding in Iraq, the funds always have to be approved by congress. In both of those conflict examples, by the way, we are talking about veto-proof appropriations, by congress.
We do indeed have a strongly configured executive branch - and it's a good thing, too. If congress had to oversee daily operations, we'd be completely stagnant on every front, and sure as hell unable to nimbly respond to things like what just happened on the Gulf Coast.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
It sublimes, which means that it goes directly from a solid to a gas.
This is more to do with pressure than temperature-it doesn't mean the ice is melting becasue it's 200 kelvin or anything.
If you were on earth, that might be the case. Several factors are at work here: Earth's air pressure at sea level is 14 lb/in (1015ish millibars); on the other hand, martian atmospheric pressures are more on the order of 5 millibars. Thats damned low. Aside from that, you have an exceptionally arid atmosphere and most of the ice on mars is actually CO2. Add all of this together and the ice doesnt even have a chance to melt; it simply sublimes away into the atmosphere.
If the president has a minority, that still leaves them with:
* Veto power (I.e., still a base 50% of control)
* Introduction of whatever legislation and amendments he wants
* The "bully pulput" of having all of their talking points reported.
* The ability to choose how to enforce all of the details of legislation that gets passed which aren't explicitly stated or are open to interpretation.
I.e., the office of the president, even in a minority-party situation, is the biggest influence as to what policies get passed.
sed "s/SJW.*$/... never mind. I was about to say something stupid, and also, I'm a troglodyte./Ig"