“…IN SUPPORT OF THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE,” as our own Dr. S. neatly put it. How’s that? Well, for those of you who had it all figured out, that the Repubs were raiding the budget to enrich Halliburton, KBR, thus giving Chris Mooney et. al. stuff to write about, comes this latest news on the budget front. Those science-loving lefties running Capitol Hill have proposed maintaining NASA’s 2007 budget at 2006 levels. That’s opposed to the science-hating Republicans, who wanted to increase it by $400 million. Got that? Good.
That’s all according to Rep. Dave Weldon of Florida, who can surely not be faulted for his concern over his own district. Be that as it may, according to Rep. Weldon:
“The raid on NASA’s budget has begun in earnest. The cuts announced today by House Democrat leaders, if approved by Congress, would be nearly $400 million less than NASA’s current budget,” said Weldon.
“Clearly, the new Democrat leadership in the House isn’t interested in space exploration. Their omnibus proposal lists hundreds of new increases, including a $1.3 billion increase, over 40% for a Global AIDS fund, all at the expense of NASA.”
The sharp-eyed Right-Wing Professor is keeping a watch for the impending condemnation of this move by the usual suspects, the ones who’ve been portraying this sort of thing as a uniquely conservative sin. So far, nothing. Surprised? We’re not.