Libby, I am personally related to someone who is involved in commercial rocketry (not my brother) and it still has a long way to go. In the meantime, we have spent millions of dollars on a space-station that our only access to will be through other countries.This was a very good move, Alan. If it had been the social security program, the right would be jumping up and down for joy.
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While it sounds like a wise move, what it really is is a move from government back innovation and research money to en***lement programs. While you say that the right would jump up and down if social security was cut--I don't think anyone in politics at all is under the delusion that without some changes, Social Security is doomed. That is coming from the right and the left. I for one, have accepted that I cannot retire at 65 like my parents before me and that rising medical costs are going to keep me from accessing the same health care system that my parents have. That is the cold hard facts. Anyone who wants to hang on to the status quo is hanging on to a sinking ship. I keep wondering who the politician will be that will face that bear and do what painfully needs to be done. Raise the retirement age, cut the benefits---something will have to happen or the system will be bankrupt---let alone the federal government has been dipping into the trust for so many years, that the money that should be there is not.