Re:Do a cost/benefit anaylsis (Score 1)

I'm sure that the space program has provided a number of valuable technological advances. If you spend billions of dollars annually on highly-paid engineers, you're going to get something more practical than credit default swaps or essays on the effect of "I Love Lucy" on the role of women.

However, if you took all that money that was given to NASA and spent it on engineers who were required to make something that someone was willing to buy, would you have a lot more practical stuff than you have from NASA?

Honestly, I don't know the answer. There is something to be said be for being in a research environment without constant quarterly P & L statements. I only know one guy who worked at NASA. He referred to it as the "Sleep Factory."

This idea that cutting social security benefits by $5/month is justification is insane. That's the logic that got us into a $10 trillion hole. I'm not going to tell some old lady living on social security that she needs to give up lunch one more time per month than she already does so we nerds can have our big rocket ships. Think how we feel when the jocks take our $5/month so they can have their football stadiums.