The Difficulty of Dismantling Constellation 200
Last month, we discussed news that President Obama's 2011 budget proposal did not include plans to continue NASA's Constellation program, choosing instead to focus on establishing a stronger foundation for low earth orbit operations. Unfortunately, as government officials prepare to shut down Constellation, they're warning that it won't be a quick or simple process due to the contracts involved. From the Orlando Sentinel:
"Obama's 2011 budget proposal provides $2.5 billion to pay contractors whatever NASA owes them so the agency can stop work on Constellation's Ares rockets, Orion capsule and Altair lunar lander. But administration officials acknowledge that this number is, at best, an educated guess. ... Many inside and outside of the space agency, however, think the number is too low. The agency has signed more than $10 billion worth of contracts to design, test and build the Ares I rocket and Orion capsule that were the heart of Constellation. But government auditors said last year that the costs of some of those contracts had swelled by $3 billion since 2007 because of design changes, technical problems and schedule slips. How much NASA will owe on all those contracts if the plug gets pulled is unclear. Many of the deals are called 'undefinitized contracts,' meaning that the terms, conditions — and price — had not been set before NASA ordered the work to start. That means the agency will need to negotiate a buyout with the contractor — and that can be a long and painful process, according to government officials familiar with the cancellation process."
What is this "entitlement mentality"? (Score:5, Interesting)
I hear Americans so often talk of this so-called "entitlement mentality". It is a confusing concept for us non-Americans.
On one hand, many Americans claim there are certain abstract concepts that are inalienable. That is, things that everybody is entitled to, without having to earn it. Freedom of expression, the right to life, the right to bear arms, and so forth.
Yet those same Americans will turn around seconds later, and complain about how other Americans have an "entitlement mentality" when these other people want such basic things as affordable (not even "free"!) health care, or even a slight degree of job security.
What differentiates between those ideas that it's okay to feel "entitled" to, versus those that lead to a "entitlement mentality"?
Re:What is this "entitlement mentality"? (Score:5, Interesting)
The one set is free, the other set involves taking my money and giving it to someone else.
If the "someone else" then gets the notion that he has a "right" to my money, problems come up.
Note, by the by, that few Americans are categorically opposed to a social safety net. The debate is usually over the size (and cost) of the net, not the presence or absence of a net.
The problem was the name . . . (Score:4, Interesting)
"Superconducting Super Collider": that just sounds too expensive.
When Congressmen are hunting for some pork for their district, they look for the biggest beast to slaughter. So that there will be enough pork to go around for a group of them. This collider project got their attention, just because of the name.
So my advice to physicists: avoid "super" and "collider" in the name of your project. Call it something like, "mini-micro particle separator." That name will not draw any attention, because it sounds innocuous.
Oh, and the reactions of Alabama's politicos seemed like a giveaway: it just smelled like someone had just stolen their pork.
Unfortunately, Congress is more interested in pork procurement, than science.
We lose.
Re:false dichotomy (Score:2, Interesting)
You want to talk about common good and Republicans, how about democrats that have controlled major US cities for decades upon decades and plunged nearly all of them and the mostly minority population into poverty and dependence. I will say that it seems Democrats and Republicans are in a race to the bottom and only conservative(real conservative) and liberal (real liberal meaning libertarian) ideas will stop the bleeding.
Re:Your chart lies (Score:4, Interesting)
What else would you expect from the New York Times? The chart is highly misleading.
The "mandatory spending" is only mandatory because of the !@&#(* spending bills that REQUIRE certain monies to be spent on certain things.
Uh, yes? In what way is this misleading?
I realize that during the Bush years, Republicans didn't think laws were much more than general guidelines. But we're back in the real world now, buddy.
Our (Democrat Party controlled) government has been spending like a drunken sailor with no regard whatsoever how to come up with the funds to meet our spending obligations. Democrats will typically point to the Bush administration and say "Look at what he spent!". Does one irresponsible act warrant another?
When eight years of deficit spending got us into this mess, it's going to take about that long to get us back out of it.
Were you not listening when some of us were saying it's going to take 20 years to undo the damage Bush was doing to this country during his two terms in office? He took a surplus and turned it into the largest deficits this country has ever seen. And he did it during economic prosperity. How do you expect Obama to take a recession he inherited and turn that deficit spending around in a year?
The damage Bush did is going to take a long, long time to recover from. This should not be news to anyone.
Re:What is this "entitlement mentality"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Or am I not understanding this Medicare program, and is it mainly spent on cosmetic surgery or something?
You're understanding Medicare perfectly.
What you are not understanding is the selfishness and short-sightedness of many Americans. This is a country that elected Bush president, after all (once, at least).
Many Americans look at a program like Medicare, see that they personally don't need it, and therefore think it's a waste of money to fund it. Only when they do come to depend on it do they then hold onto it like grim death. And they often don't even see the contradiction there.
I actually saw a sign somebody had painted at a Tea Party rally a while back that said "Don't raid Medicare to pay for socialized medicine!" which I think just about sums it up.