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Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

latimes.com

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Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#101

Post by davidw »

Theodores wrote: post #92
davidw wrote: post #31

Well, yes, that's the point. Authoritarians want to consolidate power and loot wealth, not improve things or make the world a better place.

It is the art of the deal with Trump and I would say that he is a narcissist rather than authoritarian. Trump has a massive ego and I would have expected him to want the biggest rockets, and to pain them gold. If he did then I would denounce him for spending money on space when America has trillions of debt. I don't disagree with him on everything he says just because he said it. So, with space, my honest take is tha…

If you read about Maduro wanting to imprison the leader of a region of Venezuela, who belongs to the opposition party, you'd call it authoritarianism.

If you read that the Secretary of Defense of Turkey declined to commit to obeying court orders, you'd call it authoritarianism.

If you read about Viktor Orban sending actual troops rather than police to a city because of a flimsy pretext, you'd call it authoritarianism.

It's happening here, and it's real. It isn't consolidated yet, but it's pretty obviously what they want.

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#102

Post by noworriesnate »

nielsbot wrote: post #18
msgodel wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Do you have an ideal version of the US government? Just wondering what you think should be cut vs kept.

The way I think about it is this: the bureaucracy of the federal government has accumulated so much tech debt over the years that a rewrite is in order. What that means is that we get rid of everything not immediately essential, then slowly rebuild to meet our needs.

This isn’t the same as a full revolution, where you rewrite the entire government, not just the bureaucracy (I.e. get rid of Congress, Supreme Court, executive branch and replace them with something new).

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#103

Post by jplusequalt »

Theodores wrote: post #92
davidw wrote: post #31

Well, yes, that's the point. Authoritarians want to consolidate power and loot wealth, not improve things or make the world a better place.

It is the art of the deal with Trump and I would say that he is a narcissist rather than authoritarian. Trump has a massive ego and I would have expected him to want the biggest rockets, and to pain them gold. If he did then I would denounce him for spending money on space when America has trillions of debt. I don't disagree with him on everything he says just because he said it. So, with space, my honest take is tha…

I'm really not sure what you're arguing here?

Are you arguing that the Cold War being the driver of our investment into space invalidates further attempts to explore it?

Also, as per the debt, NASA's is a fraction of the military budget, and the current budget proposal would increase the debt further, so any argument for decreasing science funding in the name of fiscal responsibility rings hollow.

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#104

Post by selfselfgo »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #41
palmfacehn wrote: post #15

Wherever budget cuts are proposed, you can rely upon detractors to present the issue in apocalyptic terms. If we believed all of these claims, then it would be impossible to cut the scope of government spending. Furthermore, if we accepted the premise promoted by some commenters here, then research, which is presented as incredibly valuable - would be unable to be funded or valued in the private market. For these rea…

The sticking point for me is that it’s such a risky bet to assume that something else will fill the gap. Much of the research impacted by cuts is not the type that private industry has typically conducted because it can’t be performed with a specific profitable result in mind. It’s the kind of research that had wound up beneficial in the long run indirectly due to incidental discoveries and unexpected connections. So…

[dead]

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#105

Post by biophysboy »

goodluckchuck wrote: post #42
hackyhacky wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please explain how cutting science and medical research helps the country. While you're at it, I'm also curious how you think cutting profitable departments (such as CPFB) or white-collar law enforcement helps anyone other than the president's friends.

Public research is just government subsidies to corporations, which acquire IP for pennies on the dollar for their own profits while leaving taxpayers with the chaff. It’s a net loss for the public good who has to pay twice.

There is a very long and expensive path from basic research IP to a profitable drug. Private pharma companies already bear the risk of the drug development pipeline, which has a very low probability of success and takes many years. Adding fundamental research to that pipeline would make these companies a riskier investment.

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#106

Post by deadbabe »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #93
deadbabe wrote: post #84

Or until you know… some future President restores the NASA budget?

The budget will shutdown many projects that have been running for decades. Those projects generally can't be restarted.

So we will see the end of James Webb telescope?

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#107

Post by Ajedi32 »

supplied_demand wrote: post #44
palmfacehn wrote: post #15

Wherever budget cuts are proposed, you can rely upon detractors to present the issue in apocalyptic terms. If we believed all of these claims, then it would be impossible to cut the scope of government spending. Furthermore, if we accepted the premise promoted by some commenters here, then research, which is presented as incredibly valuable - would be unable to be funded or valued in the private market. For these rea…

== If we believed all of these claims, then it would be impossible to cut the scope of government spending== What is the goal of cutting government spending? Most would say it is to balance the Federal budget. The controlling party is planning to do the opposite, so the argument kind of falls apart.

The goal of cutting government spending is ultimately to reduce the amount of resources drained out of the economy through taxes/inflation.

Balancing the budget is useful insofar as it reduces the resources that will need to be drained out of the economy in the future to pay interest on our growing debt (currently 11% of all Federal spending).

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#108

Post by dyauspitr »

exe34 wrote: post #70
duxup wrote: post #2

Talk: "America first!" Actual policy: "America... whatever..." The scale of anti-science policies is historic in their scale and even breadth of topics.

America is at the dusk of a new dark age.

Dawn?

Re: Trump's NASA cuts would destroy decades of science and wipe out its future

#110

Post by dyauspitr »

frogperson wrote: post #4

Trump admin is just so selfish and parasitic. How do they not understand that science, research, and innovation are what drive the economy they are trying to rob? Truly evil and incompetent.

Truly Capital Planet tier villains.
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