Perspective

With the 2009 budget under consideration, we, the public, need to review what competes for space exploration tax dollars. I now include a breakdown of the federal budget and the running tally of the cost of the Iraq war as a constant reminder of how little funding science and space has compared to other expenses, such as the military and social security. As a matter of fact, the amount of money shown in the pie chart is less than half of the total federal budget, with over 50% being spent on non-discretionary finding such as social security and Medicare.

While the military, Medicare, Social Security, and other programs are essential, it is imperative that activists and legislators appreciate the comparative differences in budget when deciding what programs need more support and what can be scaled back.

Read the 2009 Budget. Talk to your legislators about it.