Ted Cruz, Longtime Foe Of NASA And Science, Will Oversee NASA And Science In New Congress

[uhnope]

Source: Huffington Post

Following the ratification of Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committtee last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was named chair of the Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, where he will oversee NASA and science programs.

Appointed Jan. 8, Cruz is expected to be confirmed to the new role by the end of the month as one of many changes to the new Republican-controlled Congress. But the Republican senator's words and actions during his time in office have painted him to be a far cry from an advocate for the sciences, leaving many concerned about the future of space and science funding.

Cruz's infamous hours-long speech in September 2013 led to a 16-day government shutdown barring 97 percent of NASA employees from appearing for work. Interns to the agency were temporarily displaced when the NASA-provided housing was closed during the shutdown, and many have said the agency suffered lasting damage due to the freeze.

And NASA wasn't the only agency hit by the shutdown: research programs run by the National Institute of Health suffered a blow when new clinical trials were suspended, affecting 200 new patients each week of the shutdown. Environmental Protection Agency programs were also compromised, with 90 percent of employees on furlough.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/12/ted-cruz-nasa_n_6456270.html

[hobbit709]

1. I keep telling you, IDIOCRACY is a documentary.

[rtracey]

2. yeah

Good Bye Mars Rover, good bye space exploration, good bye funding for space telescope, hello arrogance and hello military spending

[defacto7]

3. So this is one of the threats

the Republicans were spewing about. They are trying to choose the worst possible choices for overseeing government agencies... and they know exactly what they are doing. It's a political war and we the people are the inheritors of their tantrum.

When did US politics turn into a crib full of 1 year olds smearing the contents of their diapers on the wall?

Oh I forgot, they were voted into office by a minority of US citizens. Hmmm...

[George II]

6. A "super" minority - actually less than 20% of eligible voters.

[blkmusclmachine]

15. It's not a question of who the 99% wants, as much as it is a question of who the 1% wants.

And the 1% owns the secret, black box vote "counting" machines...


"Trust us!"

[defacto7]

21. So true...

But even the magical voting machines can only skew the votes when they are close enough to go almost unnoticed. After the margin increases, the next move is to flush misinformation into the minds of the vulnerable. Next, make voting either impossible or cause a rift that will make people mad enough to not vote. Anything that will keep the vote count close enough that it can be manipulated.

If the majority put their foot down and voted in mass, they're strategy would crumble.

[George II]

4. Kind of like appointing Willie Sutton chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

[lordsummerisle]

5. I was sure this was a headline from The Onion n/t

[blackspade]

7. This asshole is a menace to us all.

[yurbud]

19. he will probably be the GOP nominee for president in 2016.

[randys1]

30. And 90% of America doesnt even know who he is, and that is why we are

done for

[IdiotsforPalin]

8. Science flies us to the moon

.....religion flies us into buildings

[defacto7]

9. Nice first post.....

Welcome to DU

[Scuba]

17. + another and welcome to DU.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Outstanding newcomer's post!

Welcome to D.U.

[mountain grammy]

10. There's something really ugly and psychotic in these appointments..

I picture these creepy men all sitting around dividing up the pie. Which committee positions demand the most attention from lobbyist and corporate interests and just how rich they'll all be. Thanks for the vote of confidence, America!

[yurbud]

20. Tell Halliburton there's oil on Mars

[2naSalit]

27. Sadly

that may be what it takes. But can you imagine the squirming that will ensue when they have to convince us that it was god's idea for them to go to mars to drill, baby, drill and nobody buys it?

[Frank Cannon]

12. Roughly half of this nation thinks this bullshit is a great idea.

Unfuckingbelievable.

[lunasun]

26. +Dont forget about the peole who wanted to vote but could not . Knocked off voter rolls incorrectly,

voter ID restrictions, intimidation , wrong info spread, heck in my area alone a big scandal= 4 polls opened a full hour late, in a dense working area where folks would vote before work very heavy at those polls during that morning hour also heavy Dem area for the state . Judges had gotten calls to not come they were ineligible and then didnt open the polls
.... Yep they got a lot of angles covered to get the win
I just hope this guy doesn't get any more power. Unfuckingbelievable what he has now

[Frank Cannon]

31. You're right.

But I'm also including the people who chose to stay home and not vote because "both parties are the same" or "it doesn't matter". There's a lot of those people, and they've passively given their approval for all of this.

[quadrature]

13. NASA budget should be cut by two-thirds

the ISS should be de-ordited
as cheaply as possible

[jmowreader]

14. Let me guess...

Their next move is to appoint someone who doesn't like to eat to the chair of the committee overseeing the USDA, a Christian Scientist as head of the committee overseeing the FDA, Darrell Issa to an auto theft subcommittee...

[bemildred]

16. The USA has a subconcious death wish. That's the only explanation.

It's like letting some guys who think they are going to dominate the world forever run your defense department. You don't know what will happen, but you know it won't be good.

[2naSalit]

28. +1

[w8liftinglady]

18. We have this to look forward to..

[Judi Lynn]

23. They are simply too stupid to know what they are actually doing. What a damned shame. n/t

[pampango]

24. And we will have anti-immigration repubs overseeing immigration committees, anti-UN repubs

overseeing foreign policy committees, etc. Seems like the new normal in congress.

[cigsandcoffee]

25. I hope he won't kill the Space Shuttle program. n/t

[2naSalit]

29. It would be such a damned shame. n/t

[question everything]

33. If he wants to be the first on a personal vehicle to space - let him (nt)