[DoodleDawg]

Further evidence that if the Senate leadership wants to marginalize a member who wants to reduce government then the quickest way to do it is give him chairmanship of a committee that spends money.

[onyx]

"We must refocus our investment on the hard sciences, on getting men and women into space, on exploring low-Earth orbit and beyond, and not on political distractions that are extraneous to NASA’s mandate. I am excited to raise these issues in our subcommittee and look forward to producing legislation that confirms our shared commitment to this vital mission."

~Senator Ted Cruz!!

[PROCON]

"Focus NASA on Its Core Mission: Exploring Space, and More of It," Cruz said he wants to expand the US space program.

That's just crazy talk.

Everyone knows NASA's main goal is muslim outreach, and look how well it's worked out.

[Paladin2]

Close GISS.

[Sawdring]

"In 1962, President John F. Kennedy laid down a marker for space exploration that inspired a generation of Americans to reach for the stars, recognizing that the race to the heavens was nothing less than a crucial front in the battle between freedom and tyranny," Cruz said.

And then JFK told his teenage mistress to give Dave Powers oral sex beside the pool while he watched.

[1010RD]

JFK as an inspiration? NASA needs to be wound down. The future of space is private. Cruz has gone native.

[Talisker]

Hey Ted, tell NASA to check their dumpsters for the Saturn 5 engine blueprints. Because throwing them away was really rational and excusable and not f*****g TREASON, right?

[Amendment10]

”In his statement, which was titled "Focus NASA on Its Core Mission: Exploring Space, and More of It [emphasis added]," Cruz said he wants to expand the US space program."

As I mentioned in a related thread, I enjoyed following NASA on TV when I was growing up. But now that I’ve been studying the Constitution and its history I know that Cruz is wrong to trumpet NASA’s core mission as space exploration. (Whatever Cruz was indoctrinated with in Harvard Law School, it certainly wasn’t the federal government’s limited powers as the Founding States had intended for those powers to be understood.)

More specifically, if Cruz really wants to promote NASA he needs to do the following. He must rally Congress to propose a space exploration amendment to the Constitution to the states. And if the states choose to ratify Cruz’s amendment then Congress will actually have the constitutional authority that it needs to tax and spend for space exploration purposes and Cruz will be a hero.

But also note that I will support Cruz for president if that’s who Obama guard dog Fx News nominates as the candidate. (No, that’s not how candidate nominations are supposed to work, but …)

[GeronL]

No more Muslim outreach!

[kaehurowing]

Send Jane Fonda to Mars

[ru4liberty]

I see this as a plus for conservatism/Republicans. When the administration skipped Houston when determining where the retired space shuttles should be permanently housed, Dems lost a lot of support in these parts (Houston/Clear Lake area + surrounding communities). I worked at NASA for about 20 years in total and still know a lot of people in the area, both retired and employed. It would be hard to describe the anger and sense of betrayal this part of Texas felt when it was decided that "Space City" didn't merit a retired space shuttle. After suffering the sting of the back of Obama's hand when he chose to skip over Houston, we then suffered the back of Schmucky Schumer's hand when he gloated in the most unstatesman-like manner imaginable about Houston's being overlooked. This did NOT sit well with voters of any stripe in this region.

[TomasUSMC]

Wait WHAT, SOMEONE ACTUALLY SAYING WE SHOULD LEAD THE WAY?

[wastedyears]

NASA shouldn’t be involved in “Muslim outreach.”

And aren’t there other institutions that can record the history of the Earth’s climate? NASA should be solely focused on the technologies to keep us in space, as well as working on the tech to help us colonize.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

I am amazed at the number of people on this thread who don’t realize that the United States needs to *control* space (at least our immediate portion of it) as a defense issue. Cruz can’t come out and SAY that (because enough people already like to call him a loon) but it’s true. The Chinese are working to put a base on the Moon. And the U.S. can’t be out in space without Russia’s cooperation these days. Do you think letting Russia and China control our immediate area of space is a safe way to go for the long run?

Remember the dictum: Control the high ground. And it’s a little dated, but find and read “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.” Then let’s talk.

[norwaypinesavage]

I’ll have to disagree with Ted on this one. The once-great NASA has become nothing but a nest of bureaucrats who spend their time trolling for taxpayer dollars. There is only one way to save the US space program: kill NASA and start over with a real space program, not one based from a Muslim outreach bureaucracy.