I hope what follows will get you pissed off more with the government than with me. I am going to bitch about the way billions of our tax dollars have been wasted and will continue to be wasted on NASA, on the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and on the Hurricane Katrina disaster. I'm referring to manned spaceflight since the end of the Cold War, the money given to the 9/11 victims, and the money appropriated for the rebuilding of the low flood-prone areas of New Orleans.
MANNED SPACEFLIGHT. The space program started out as a competition for prestige during the Cold War (1946 - 1991) between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1957, we were shocked when the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik I, the first earth orbiting satellite. In 1961, we were shocked again when the Soviets launched the first man, Yuri Gagarin, in space. What followed was a race to see who would place the first man on the moon. The United States won that race in 1969.
Once we had beaten the Soviets to the moon, they immediately abandoned any further attempts to send their Cosmonauts there. Why? What would have been the point? Instead, the Soviets turned to building a space station. Not to be outdone, we decided to build a bigger space station. Our project became so expensive that, since the Cold War was over, we invited Russia to join us in building and maintaining the current space station. Several years ago Russia ran out of funds and since then we have been subsidizing their part in this joint venture.
Will the space station ever be fully completed? Some experts do not believe so. And, if it is ever completed, how much use will we get out of it? The predictions - very little, if any. We have sunk billions and billions of dollars into manned space flight with relatively little in return, except for our pride. It is true that a good number of useful innovations for use by industry and in the home have been developed through the space program, but most of those came into being well before the end of the 20th Century.
Recently, President Bush ordered NASA to carry out a project which will return us to the moon. Good grief, what in the hell for? Apparently, to launch manned space flights into outer space. Billions and billions more of tax dollars going down a black hole. Instead of going to the moon, many experts believe we can learn everything there is to know about Mars and the other planets through the use of unmanned space vehicles.
Todate, NASA has received more than 419 billion dollars (more than 618 billion dollars when adjusted for inflation). Most of these funds have gone toward the manned spaceflight programs. And now, they are spending billions more on developing a new fleet of manned space shuttles. I am all for unmanned space exploration, like the two rovers that have been operating on Mars for the past 43 months, but let's put an end to the endless drain of our tax dollars for manned spaceflight. Let the private sector take over this boondoggle for what it's worth.
9/11 VICTIMS COMPENSATION. The terrorist attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon, as well as the Pennsylvania airliner crash, killed 2,551 civilians and seriously injured 215 others. 460 fire fighters, police officers and medics were also killed or seriously injured. The federal government established the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund as an airline bailout program because in order to receive any compensation from this fund, each recipient had to agree not to sue the airlines used by the terrorists.
By the end of 2004, the 9/11 victims, individuals and businesses, had received 19.6 billion dollars (51%) in insurance payments and 15.8 billion dollars (42%) in government compensation. New York businesses received 62% of the total compensation. An average of 1.2 million dollars in government payments was made to each of the widows and widowers of those killed, with some receiving up to 4.7 million dollars. Those govenment handouts were made in addition to any funds they may have received from insurance companies.
Many of the 9/11 victims were not satisfied with the handouts, demanding even more from the government. I'll bet that many of the 9/11 victims who have received these government handouts have long complained about the handouts given to welfare recipients. By contrast, the Oklahoma City bombing victims received no compensation from the government, even though the bombed building belonged to the federal government. Having seen how the 9/11 victims were compensated, the Oklahoma City victims then clamored for equal compensation from the government.
I truly feel deeply sorry for the loss of lives and their effect on the surviviors, but I do not believe the federal government had any obligation whatsoever to compensate the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing or the 9/11 attacks. Shit happens! Although some would argue to the contrary, the government was not at fault in either case and thus, no federal compensation is warranted, the probable bankruptcy of airlines notwithstanding. As far as I'm concerned, almost 16 billion of our tax dollars have gone down the drain.
REBUILDING NEW ORLEANS. With the breach of the levees, 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. Especially hard hit was the Lower Ninth Ward, an area populated mostly by poor working class blacks. Who can forget the pictures of those poor souls standed at the New Orleans Convention Center under the most horrifying conditions imaginable.
Was the federal government responsible for the failure of the levees. To some extent, yes. The government could have done a better job maintaining those levees. Was the federal government responsible for the Convention Center debacle. Most certainly not. That was the fault of the inept city government, led by the "Chocolate City" mayor, Ray Nagin.
Congress has allocated 62 billion dollars for the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Most of that funding is to be spent on rebuilding New Orleans. The government should help to rebuild that city since it failed to adequately maintain the levees, But, rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward and other flood-prone areas of New Orleans just doesn't make any sense. Civil rights activists have made the Lower Ninth Ward into a racial issue. The working class blacks of New Orleans deserve better than to be subjected to a similar disaster, one that is bound to happen again if the flood-prone areas in which they resided are rebuilt.
If the government is going to spend billions of dollars rebuilding New Orleans, they should spend the money on building homes in areas adjacent to New Orleans which are not likely to flood. The Lower Ninth Ward and other flood-prone areas of the city should just be razed and abandoned. Their former residents should be given homes in areas not subject to flooding. Any expenditures on the flood-prone residential areas of New Orleans would only constitute another humongous nonsensical waste of our tax dollars.
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