The Candidates on NASA and Space Exploration

yay obama! now there is no reason not to vote for him!

This makes it much easier to choose who I'll vote for.

I don't know - Obama's statement doesn't actually say he'll support manned spaceflight, it just says that he'll support NASA. That's not the same thing. While I'm happy to see him supporting NASA in a general sense, his statement was vague enough to be nigh meaningless. I'm not seriously revising my opinion of him until I see a more detailed plan.

This is interesting. Has Obama finally realized that inspiring people is not NASA's job?

"Balanced" means that if NASA gets a budget increase it will be spread equally among the directorates, with nothing getting priority or short shrift. In other words: the same pie slices, just a slightly bigger pie.

Wow. It's just another speech. When he wakes up tomorrow morning, he'll be on the other side of the bed and another press release will come out.

He spent less than a year in Illinois govt. before deciding to run for the Senate. He spent less than 6 months in U.S. govt. before deciding he should be President. According to the media, he might as well be President already.

NASA is not a priority to the current President or his future successors. You'll all be safe in your jobs regardless of who wins this election. In the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, Congress showed its bi-partisan support for our goals. Their support was further shown with the submission of the NASA Authorization Act of 2009. I'm sure neither candidate would want to be the person to go against the wishes of Congress.

All of that being said, it's getting old to hear people worry about their jobs because a new President will be elected. NASA is NOT an employment agency. If your job contributes to our goals, then you will keep your job. If not, good riddance.

As a taxpaying citizen of these United States, I don't want to see my tax dollars go to a bunch of people who are more worried about keeping their jobs than achieving something great. I'm sure this won't be well-received, but it needs to be said.