Pushing the cost burden on subsequent generations is a cowardly way to deal with our financial problems. When Reagan entered office, the debt was less than $1T (about $3.5T in today's dollars).
The #4 cost currently is paying off interest (not principle) on old debt.
I agree we are spending too much now, but the solution should not be to stop all spending.
The problem is deeper than just a deficit.
If the economy is in the shitter you are perfectly entitled to run a deficit.
Doing good? Pay down debts. Need a boost? Invest and incur debt. Where is the flaw?
Yeah, and the USSR would have won.
>When Reagan entered office, the debt was less than $1T (about $3.5T in today's dollars).
Well, guess who won the Cold War? Who pushed the USSR to bankrupt itself?
It would be like saying "no private company should ever raise capital".
If one wants to make a nuanced argument about NASA or fiscal responsibility despite the current political environment, it is perfectly possible to do so! But you need to work much harder to tease out the nuance and distance yourself from the fascists, lest your effort of espousing your lofty ideals just end up as fuel supporting them. Fascists don't respect ideals beyond power - the open hypocrisy is the point.
The one who lacks nuance is not the one who thinks NASA could stand to shave a couple billions but the one who's making everything a partisan fight.
And no, the comment I responded to had absolutely no specific criticism about what from NASA should be "shaved". Notice how I didn't respond to the one about SLS?
Did you call for Biden's impeachment when he coordinated with social media companies to violate American 1A rights?
Did you vociferously condemn what Biden enabled in Gaza?
Unless you too add these boiler plates on your messages you are full of it.
Yes, unequivocally.
> Did you call for his impeachment then or now?
I didn't call for his impeachment because it didn't seem like a political possibility to effect change. I did not vote for him in the first place, and there did not appear to be a differing alternative in the cards.
> Did you call for Biden's impeachment when he coordinated with social media companies to violate American 1A rights?
My view is I do not see what is significant about "Biden" or the government here, apart from people trying to tenuously connect the palpable infringement upon their freedom to the 1st amendment as written. The larger topic, advocating for the right of free speech with the rise of corporate government is one of my pet issues. But yet again, there has been no political option on the table to actually change anything about this.
> Did you vociferously condemn what Biden enabled in Gaza?
Honestly, it seemed like Biden was doing the best he could given the Israel lobby. But I'll admit to not really being invested in that situation any longer.
... but what I most certainly did not do is post on any of these topics cheerleading for power. Especially with paltry appeals to values that when scrutinized, are being hypocritically used by power as justifications. It's not a matter of "boilerplate", it's a matter of expressing enough nuance to make it so that your opinion isn't simply contributing to the chorus cheerleading for power. There's a time and a place to call for good-faith reform of American institutions, but it's decidedly not when fascists are at the helm.
>> Did you vociferously condemn what Biden enabled in Gaza?
> Honestly, it seemed like Biden was doing the best he could given the Israel lobby. But I'll admit to not really being invested in that situation any longer.
I responded to your question in the context of being about Biden's policies, in line with the thrust of your other questions.
Regarding what was and is going on in Gaza (regardless which US politicians and policies may be enabling it) ? Yes, I certainly condemn that! It's fucking genocide.
As I said, I'm not super invested in the situation any more, growing older and not seeing any real angle to personally affect it. I had a few weeks after Oct 7 of writing off the situation as FAFO (but still realizing that this was unfair to the Palestinians who did not support that attack), but Israel burnt through that goodwill quick. I'm old enough to have become more conservative such that if Israel had occupied Gaza and implemented martial law with the (stated and apparent) goal of keeping the peace until a civil non-Hamas government could be sustained, I just might have accepted that. But they didn't. What they are actually doing is straight up take-no-responsibility genocide.