Obama/McCain and space exploration

[preciousjeni]

From the Tampa Tribune:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug...tells-space-c/

A Modified Proposal

In response, Obama campaign spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said his decision not to delay the Constellation program by at least five years to 2020 or later "is not a reversal."

Rather, she said he has modified an earlier proposal that creates a "win-win" scenario by keeping Constellation on track while funding the early education program through alternative spending offsets.

Although she could not provide dollar-for-dollar trade-offs, Marsh noted that other ways the campaign has identified to help pay for the early education program are reforming and reducing earmark spending and reforming federal contracting procedures.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee was hitting back at McCain. In a statement, the committee said it is McCain, not Obama, who must explain past positions on NASA and space programs.

"Once again, John McCain and his campaign have decided to take the low road rather than defend his own record on NASA issues," DNC spokesman Damien LaVera said. "Not only has McCain voted to take funding from NASA to fund other priorities, but his 'fantasy' plan to pay for making the Bush's tax cuts permanent by freezing discretionary funding and vetoing every bill with earmarks would cost the Mars mission millions."

Obama has consistently expressed support for education, particularly in the areas of math and science. If we weren't in such a financial pickle, I have a feeling he'd pump plenty of funding into NASA.