Reported Obama Plan Would Privatize Manned Launches

couchslug writes with this excerpt from the not-yet-paywalled New York Times: "President Obama will end NASA's return mission to the moon and turn to private companies to launch astronauts into space when he unveils his budget request to Congress next week, an administration official said Thursday. The shift would 'put NASA on a more sustainable and ambitious path to the future' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the changes have angered some members of Congress, particularly from Texas, the location of the Johnson Space Center, and Florida, the location of the Kennedy Space Center. 'My biggest fear is that this amounts to a slow death of our nation's human space flight program,' Representative Bill Posey, Republican of Florida, said in a statement." If true, this won't please the federal panel that recommended against just such privatization.

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Re:BEGIN (partisanBickering)

[ArcherB]

Cap and Trade - Pragmatic, market-based solution to a serious problem, a solution that Libertarians loved until a Democratic president proposed it. Centrist.

Universal Health Care - The standard for Western industrial nationals, and supported in some form by 60-80% of the US population. Centrist.

Income Redistribution - A loaded term for making the wealthy pay their fair share for the national infrastructure that as capital owners they get far more use from. Centrist (the rightist Republican version of course is Income Redistribution from the poor and middle classes to the rich).

Canceling NASA projects - eliminating wasteful spending. Centrist.

Studying global warming - Necessary science to resolve a looming crisis. Non-political.

So yeah, fairly centrist so far.

I don't think you know what Libertarian means. Let me tell what THIS Libertarian believes.

Cap and Trade- Government needs to stay out of the private affairs of the people and the businesses they run.

Universal Health Care- The federal government should never pay for what the states can do for themselves. States can do Universal Health Care if they decide to... or not. Either way, government needs to stay out of the private affairs of the people and the businesses they run.

Income Redistribution- The government has no business telling the people what do with their money. Government needs to stay out of the private affairs of the people and the businesses they run.

Canceling NASA projects- Currently, NASA serves a role in national security. Also, it is a job that neither the states nor private industries can do. NASA is a government role. I'd hardly call it wasteful either. Ever watch TV, use a navigation device, make a phone call overseas use a non-stick skillet? All NASA's doing.

Studying global warming- Wait! I thought the debate was over and the science was settled. What's there to study? Sorry, but AGW theories have proven to be full of fraud, outright lies and power grabs. While I agree that research needs to be done, cutting NASA's budget is not the way to go about it. There is so much more to our climate than what we see here on Earth.

So, no not a centrist.

As to being a Libertarian, let me sum it up this way:
The federal government should only what only the federal government can do! This means that anything the states can do, the federal government should say out of. Anything that is not nationally security related or deals with interstate commerce, the feds should stay out of it. If it ain't specifically spelled out in the Constitution as a job the feds should be doing, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD STAY OUT OF IT!!!