Bush Space Program: Okay, now I get it!

[ewagner]

Why would our beloved (mis)leader have a sudden epiphany over space exploration? The O'Neill book confirms everything we already thought about Bush*, namely:he doesn't give a rat's ass (no offense to Magic Rat)about anything but political power. So why space exploration?

Can you say?

Lockheed-Martin?
Boeing Aerospace?
Grumman-Northrup?
Teledyne?
McDonald-Douglas?

Talk about "bang-for-the buck"!. this is a great way to pay off political contributors with another thinly disguised corp bailout...

AND

Most of thos jobs will be in Cal-i-forn-ya

Just a little bonus to the gropanator and a sure-fire way to pick up the State's electoral votes.

I'm a little slow maybe but this is a perfect political ploy....

damn the deficits...full speed ahead

[RBHam]

1. Late...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1015724

[Cannikin]

2. One thing Rush is right about.....

Follow the money. When somebody says, "It's not the money," it's
always the money.

[GURUving]

3. Also

Remember, the US wants to control the earth from space, and new technologies will be developed for military purposes.

[tridim]

4. "Most of those jobs will be in Cal-i-forn-ya"

and Florida and Texas. The only three states that matter.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

7. What about all those farming subsidies from earlier in his term?

Those hit some other crucial states.

[watercolors]

5. You are right!

Get the vote in Florida, Texas and yes California. You have to realize that none of this will come to pass, and if it does its light years down the road. But he has Fl all fired up over it, Maybe he can't count on Jebbie this time around and this is his ploy. It will only work in central Fl tho, rest of the state really doesn't care! I'd say its a ho- hummm.

[Lorien]

6. California? Try Florida

I posted this on another thread but it applies here, too:
It's about killing the Space program as we know it and moving towards "Star Wars" type programs, if any. Mostly it's about election year politics. From AOL:

Part of the moon-Mars initiative would be funded by shifting money already in NASA's budget, officials said. The plan calls for retiring the space shuttle by the end of this decade and quickly concluding the U.S. obligations to the International Space Station. The shuttle now costs NASA about $4 billion a year and the station about $1 billion.


And from Mark Morford, who pretty much sums it all up:
This is what it boils down to, really: a big joke. There will be no men on Mars in 2020. There will be no massive, super-keen space station on the moon anytime soon. Even BushCo's own financial advisers openly cringe when the Mumbly One tosses up such an obvious and impossibly costly PR stunt, one so clearly designed to instill a false sense of hope and "America rules!" faux patriotism in a country heavily drugged on fear and false righteousness.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fgate%2Farchive%2F2004%2F01%2F14%2Fnotes011404.DTL

[TheDalaiMama]

8. I heard Florida and Texas were the 2 biggest recipients of the new

program is it becomes reality.