On Sunday Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton issued a statement “in support of U.S. aerospace and aviation”. The statement is largely a restatement of her October 2007 science policy and follow-up statements, with additional aviation-specific items. The section of greatest relevance to space policy:
Hillary will double NASA’s and FAA’s aeronautics R&D budgets as part of her plan to reverse the Bush administration’s war on science. She will pursue a balanced strategy of robust human spaceflight, expanded robotic spaceflight, and enhanced space and Earth science activities. She will speed development, testing, and deployment of next-generation launch and crew exploration vehicles to replace the aging Space Shuttle program. At the same time, Hillary’s innovation agenda calls for stimulating in-house research and commercial development by making the R&D tax credit permanent. She will also double federal investment in basic research, which is critical for ensuring that America is at the forefront of new ideas.
The one new item is the statement doubling NASA’a aeronautics budget (for which the Bush Administration proposed just under $450 million for FY2009); in her October statement she committed only to “make the financial investments in research and development necessary to shore up and expand our competitive edge.” The statement doesn’t indicate, though, how long it would take to phase in that doubling (would it take effect in FY2010, or would the budget gradually grow over a number of years?) and whether or not that additional aeronautics funding would come at the expense of other NASA programs.
In other words, she’s promised everything to everyone in the space community. If she gets elected, I wouldn’t hold my breath on all of these promises being fulfilled. Nonetheless, I think she has demonstrated the most thought on the issues, and is thus the most likely to caugh up a reasonable policy. (Going against my own argument, however, is the fact that the staff of a President who has demonstrated little thought on much of anything managed with the VSE to come up with the best policy in years. Unfortunately, valuing thought, I’m not sure how that should inform future choices in leadership!)
— Donald
[…] from where the monies will come. Â We no longer expect our politicians to be so specific. Â Over at Space Politics, it’s pointed out that the statement doesn’t say the time period over which the budget […]