Feingold: delay another moon mission, save $24.7 billion

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, recently introduced the Control Spending Now Act, legislation to reduce the deficit by about one half trillion dollars. The Control Spending Now Act is made up of more than forty proposals to cut the U.S. deficit, which currently stands at $1.42 trillion. As part of Sen. Feingold’s continuing “Spotlight on Spending” series, which highlights key provisions of the Control Spending Now Act, Sen. Feingold has highlighted areas where taxpayer dollars could be saved. The most recent installment of Sen. Feingold’s “Spotlight on Spending” series is focusing on the plan by NASA to put a crew exploration vehicle (CEV) in orbit in 2015 and commence a lunar mission in 2020. By at least delaying the mission five years, as Sen. Feingold’s legislation would do, the Congressional Budget Office has reported that research could continue while $24.7 billion over the next ten years would be saved.

“I understand the appeal of sending astronauts back to the moon, but given our current fiscal situation, we need to prioritize how we spend taxpayer dollars,” Feingold said. “Not only would a trip to the moon in the current time frame not make financial sense, rushing it through as planned could subject our astronauts to unnecessary risk. With the White House-appointed Augustine Commission saying that the mission simply isn’t fiscally viable as planned, we should delay it. The president needs to modify NASA’s plan to preserve key missions while controlling spending.”

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6 thoughts on “Feingold: delay another moon mission, save $24.7 billion

  1. Hate to see a project like this delayed, but maybe it makes sense. Further, he should split this bill up if it fails, and offer each item separately so as to offer the best chance of some reductions getting past.

  2. Cancel the second half of TARP — save $350 billion.
    Cancel the unspent stimulus funds — save at least $350 billion
    Kill the so-called healthcare reform bill — save $800 billion and probably a lot more.

    And Senator Feingold is worried about the paltry $24.7 billion for the Constellation program that at least would provide good jobs (building the boosters and the other equipment needed to launch and operate the system)? Methinks his priorities are in the wrong place.

  3. Considering this is the same guy that wanted Trent Lott out for a racist comment, but won’t hold his own Reid to the same standard? Hypocrite!

    1. Tom, Harry Reid used regrettable language, while Trent Lott was lamenting the fact that segregation came to an end; those aren’t quite the same thing.

  4. Regardless of anything else….It’s a great idea. I would also lay off the NASA folks for the same period. I think it’s smart to take a look at everything we fund as a country and start to at least question it

  5. @Tom because what reid said wasn’t racist. period. try looking at the context.

    Sad to see NASA portrayed once again as the low hanging fruit. It accounts for a fraction of 1% of the federal budget, yet has given us untold bounties in technology as well as tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs.

    If you want to save money, why not start with dismantling the largest agency ever created, the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration.

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