jhoblik,<br /><br />When the roof is leaking, the water heater is spewing rust, and the furnace won't start by itself, going out and buying a new car is not what most people would do. Irregardless of the Iraq war, the finances of the United States are in great disarray, partly because we have become a nation of consumers, instead of a nation of producers. To make money, you have to produce something. To consume, you have to have money. In order to continue consuming, we keep borrowing money.<br /><br />Space technology is one of the few areas that the U.S. is still a leader. Putting people to work building rockets, space stations, and Lunar habitats is one of the small number of options left for getting something useful out of Federal dollars. Compare this with the 18 billion dollars being spent currently to fight drug abuse, which, according to field agents of the D.E.A., surveys, and statistics, is money being wasted.<br /><br />We could increase the NASA budget without increasing the federal budget by shutting down the D.E.A. and transferring its budget to NASA. This would give people interested in engineering belief that they might be able to find work if they go into the engineering field, provide the funds needed to expand our exploration efforts, and reduce the pressures making recreational drugs so profitable.<br /><br />The situation in Iraq threatens the stability of the entire Middle East, so don't expect the U.S. to withdraw its troops any time soon. To do so would put our primary source of oil in jeopardy, which is unacceptable. Look for new rhetoric coming from Democratic leaders justifying continuing the military intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, while we manage to ignore the carnage going on in Africa.<br /><br />Yes, it is time to write to our Congress members, to remind them that investing in the future is the only way to have any say in what kind of future we will have. And get used to riding a bicycle, walking, and teleco <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>