Today is election day, and by late tonight Congress may have a very different look if projections of major Republican gains in the House and Senate hold up. For space policy watchers, there are a handful of races to take note of as the results roll in:
Florida 24th District: one of the few places in the country where space policy is a major campaign issue, thanks to the presence of the Kennedy Space Center, Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D) is in danger of losing to Republican challenger Sandy Adams (the New York Times’s FiveThirtyEight gives Kosmas only an 18% chance of winning reelection today.) Kosmas has been a supporter of the agency’s new direction as defined in the NASA authorization bill passed this fall, while Adams has been more vague on the subject, pushing for a shuttle extension that is highly problematic, at best, at this late stage, as they discussed in recent interviews in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Alabama 5th District: Mo Brooks (R) and Steve Raby (D) are running to succeed Parker Griffith, the Democrat-turned-Republican who lost to Brooks in the Republican primary for the district that includes the Marshall Space Flight Center. [The original version of this post incorrectly identified the current representative of the district.] In a recent debate the two candidates took questionable stands on space issues, with Brooks claiming he would be named to at least two key committees that govern NASA funding (only the appropriations committee handles this) while Raby said he would seek to extend the shuttle program (and, on his web site, vowing to defeat the proposal to end Constellation, which has been effectively ended by the new authorization bill). FiveThirtyEight suggests that Brooks is heavily favored to win.
Arizona 8th District: while not a “space” district, it is home to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), current chair of the space subcommittee of the House Science and Technology committee. Giffords is in a tight race for reelection against Republican Jesse Kelly; projections have Giffords with a narrow but growing lead. However, even if Giffords wins reelection, it looks likely she will lose her chairmanship of the subcommittee with Republicans expected to take control of the House.
Florida 8th District: Rep. Alan Grayson (D) does sit on the House Science and Technology Committee and has become famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for critical questioning of NASA administrator Charles Bolden in one hearing and for colorful rhetoric (calling the commercial crew development program in the NASA budget proposal “the epitome of socialism and corporate welfare”). Grayson is behind in the polls to his Republican challenger, Daniel Webster, although space policy hasn’t played a noticeable role.
Many other races that involve key House and Senate members on space issues aren’t nearly as competitive. For example, in the Senate, Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), chair of the CJS subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking member of that subcommittee; and David Vitter (R-LA), ranking member of the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, are all up for reelection today, but all are expected to win easily (FiveThirtyEight, for example, gives Mikulski and Shelby 100% chances to win, while Vitter is given 99.5% odds of winning.)
In the House, Reps. Ralph Hall (R-TX) and Pete Olson (R-TX), the ranking members of the full House Science and Technology Committee and its space subcommittee, respectively, are expected to win easily, and would be in line to chair those committees assuming Republicans to gain control of the House tonight.
“I think the bureaucrats need to stay out and let the people who know what they’re doing make the decisions that will get our men and women safely home. They’re the ones that are trained. They know what they’re doing. We need to be listening to them.”
Simberg said she was as dumb as a bag of hammers. In my experience the military is run by officers who want to either get promoted or get out and work for a defense company as an executive. Uh huh, they know what they are doing; this war has gone on longer than WW2, the “long war”, etc. etc.
She wants to fly more shuttles when it is actually the HLV hardware and hydrogen infrastructure that is important, not the wings in a vacuum.
I am praying their is some sanity left in this country and a close call will make the dems get off their butts and start doing their job. If the right gets control again we will just have more of nothing.
Florida 24th District:.. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D) is in danger of losing to Republican challenger Sandy Adams (the New York Times’s FiveThirtyEight gives Kosmas only an 18% chance of winning reelection today.)
Stick a fork in her, she’s done. The Space Coast gets its revenge.
Alabama 5th District: Mo Brooks (R) and Steve Raby (D)
A democrat in Alabama in this election? Next.
Arizona 8th District: while not a “space†district, it is home to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), current chair of the space subcommittee of the House Science and Technology committee.
Giffords is ripe for upset. She is soft on illegals.
Florida 8th District: Rep. Alan Grayson (D)
Quite possibly the worst person in the House. He’s going down in flames.
Don’t forget to cast your Republican vote!
Sorry, that last post of mine is about Sandy Adams the hammer lady. I also forgot to mention that ending involvement in afland and other places would theoretically make available funds equivalent to the moon program of the 60’s.
It could be argued that Vietnam crippled our space program by causing the shuttle to be nickel and dimed; the same can be said about our recent wars cutting the hamstrings of a successor to the shuttle.
It’s like there are aliens controlling politics just to keep us from going into space.
It’s possible I guess. I think they are republicans.
Jeff,
Check Alabama 5 – Its Parker Griffith, not Parker Brooks
I voted against Olsen because in my view he has not done well representing his district, and that comes with some pain, I supported him in 08…but I expect him to win easily…
There is going to be a large turnover in the House and the GOP will come close in the Senate…I dont think that this changes at all space policy, except that I think that the dollars for human spaceflight are going to get less…
And of course in a national sense it sets the tone for 12…
Everyone should vote. And no one should tell someone not to vote. Voting is the foundation of The Republic.
Robert G. Oler
A couple of quick addenda to Jeff’s post.
The current incumbent in the district which represents Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is Parker Griffith, rather than Parker Brooks.
Also, for those who will be keeping track at home, you may be interested in this:
Its a sheet with a listing of districts of note for space policy watchers.
Ferris and Ryan: thanks for the correction. Too little coffee this morning…
I live in Kosmas’ district. I held my nose and voted for her but I think Adams is going to win. Adams is fairly clueless about space and seems to be another Palin/McDonnell type. She’ll probably give lip service to space but will vote however her handlers tell her to vote.
I don’t want to see the GOP take the house, for no other reason than I can’t stomach Boehner’s fake tan. On the other hand, the nation would be better off with Mr. Grayson earning a modest living on late-night talk radio.
I also forgot to mention that ending involvement in afland and other places would theoretically make available funds equivalent to the moon program of the 60′s.
Any money freed up by ending involvement in Afghanistan (if that happens) will go to starting to reduce the deficit, not redoing Apollo.
MichaelC wrote:
I am praying their is some sanity left in this country and a close call will make the dems get off their butts and start doing their job. If the right gets control again we will just have more of nothing.
Rachel Maddow had a nice summary last night of all the things accomplished in the last two years, including the biggest tax cut in many years. You can watch at this link The problem is the Democrats do a terrible job at message delivery. The GOP has a TV network run by one of their operatives and a massive propaganda machine that pumps out books that some people take as gospel.
Florida Today has a great article on the use of fear to manipulate voter thinking. Well worth the read. The Dems should have invoked the great words of FDR — there is nothing to fear but fear itself.
In fact, on today’s ballot here in Florida is a referendum asking people if the U.S. Constitution should be amended to require a balanced budget without increasing taxes. How stupid. For openers, why is the state conducting a non-binding advisory vote on a federal matter? Beyond that, no one ever says how they will balance the budget without increasing taxes. If they ever tried, government-subsidized human space flight will be one of the first casualties.
But no matter how the election turns out, it won’t make a difference for government-subsidized space. The Congresscritters will still funnel pork back to their districts without actually accomplishing anything. SpaceX and the like will be flying human crew long before any government vehicle does.
I trust Oler voted for a minor party candidate or wrote someone in. Olson’s Democrat opponent, Kesha Rogers, is an acolyte of Lyndon LaRouche.
The GOP has a TV network run by one of their operatives and a massive propaganda machine that pumps out books that some people take as gospel.
Yes, because MSNBC is so objective, and would never hew to the Democrat party line. Jeffrey Immelt would never do anything to help Democrats, nosirree.
Rachel Maddow? Really?
Florida Today has a great article on the use of fear to manipulate voter thinking. Well worth the read. The Dems should have invoked the great words of FDR — there is nothing to fear but fear itself.
Yes, because Democrats would never fear monger about the Republicans wanting to take away your social security, or black churches burning, or wanting you to “die quickly,” or old folks eating kibbles and bits if they are elected.
And really? The color of a man’s skin is sufficient to make you vote against his party? There’s a word for that…
Stephen, with all due respect, your comments are both nonsensical, and off topic.
Oh, and is this the same Bob Oler who told us that Rick Perry was going to lose to Bill White, and Charlie Crist was going to beat Marco Rubio, because of those “tea baggers”? I think the “tea baggers” are having the last laugh today. And I also think they’ll be amenable to a sensible (i.e., fiscally responsible, non-pork-driven) space policy.
AZ-8 will be interesting to watch. Giffords has had much more money to spend. Kelly is very much a Tea Party type. I won’t be voting for Giffords, but I know many people will.
It might also be interesting to watch AZ-7. If Mclung beats Grijalva, might the physicist be put on one of the relevant committees?
If Mclung beats Grijalva, might the physicist be put on one of the relevant committees?
If McClung beats Grijalva, it probably means ninety-plus seats for the Republicans in the House and a Republican Senate. Which is not to say it won’t happen. But that’s one of those “high-water” districts, like Barney Frank’s, or Jim Moran’s in Virginia, that will indicate just how huge a tsunami this year is.
It may be like ’94. 1894, that is. If it’s not that big, it will only be because the computers have gotten a lot better at gerrymandering…
Barney Frank didn’t encourage a boycott of his own state. I won’t say it’s still not “high-water”, just maybe not as much as you think.
“Any money freed up by ending involvement in Afghanistan (if that happens) will go to starting to reduce the deficit, not redoing Apollo.”
You don’t know that. I really really hate to say this because someone I think is a real jerk constantly posts this shrill and arrogant demand, but in this one case;
Don’t make things up.
In my humble opinion that never states what will happen, as if I knew, the money WILL get spent. The only question is on what; space ships or cold war bombers and corporate welfare.
The only question is on what; space ships or cold war bombers and corporate welfare.
Even ignoring the foolishness of that false choice, when NASA gets the money a lot more is spent on corporate welfare than space ships, as exemplified by Constellation.
It will be nice to get this over so we have a few months of less in your face campaigning before we start all over again. I expect 2011 appropriations to be bipartisan so that should cement NASA direction through threw the next campaign season. I think if we see some success with the Commercial approach over the next couple of years, we will see congress slip some more money in that direction very quietly. I would bet that the HLV will get stretched out by reduced funding which for me wouldn’t be a bad thing. It will be an interesting year.
I expect 2011 appropriations to be bipartisan
Why?
I second that
@ MichaelC wrote @ November 2nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm
“You don’t know that. I really really hate to say this because someone I think is a real jerk constantly posts this shrill and arrogant demand, but in this one case;”
You really believe that the money will go to space exploration when the wars are over??? Really??
“In my humble opinion that never states what will happen, as if I knew, the money WILL get spent. The only question is on what; space ships or cold war bombers and corporate welfare.”
So assume this is the choice they will face: “space ships or cold war bombers and corporate welfare.” Why just why would they spend the money on spaceships???? Boy if you have a good answer I think you should run for Congress. Because if you can convince Congress that spaceships are more important to budget than say healthcare or say social security or say DoD or say… I think you ought to run then!
Any one wondering why the Democrats cannot do anything? Still?
Oh well…
The reason I said we will have a bipartisan NASA appropriation bill is in general space has been bipartisan, it’s more divided by the space lines. So I think in general the consensus in congress is that a Constellation like program isn’t affordable but we need American access to space desperately so they will compromise on a single path, the same as the authorization bill. The authorization bill even in this very partisan political environment was relatively bipartisan in the end as compared to say the health care bill.
To support my argument:
S. 2729 Vote
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll561.xml
That’s 3729
The reason I said we will have a bipartisan NASA appropriation bill is in general space has been bipartisan, it’s more divided by the space lines.
That was before Barack Obama came out with a radical (in a good way, for once) change to the policy.
Mark R. Whittington wrote @ November 2nd, 2010 at 11:35 am
I trust Oler voted for a minor party candidate or wrote someone in.
…
the later
Robert G. Oler
“Even ignoring the foolishness of that false choice, when NASA gets the money a lot more is spent on corporate welfare than space ships, as exemplified by Constellation.”
Not a false choice. It is a choice. It would be foolish not acknowledge it and instead say it is not “real.”
Ike the republican warned us- and you are the proof he was right.
People who do not understand that the military industrial complex is a massive taxpayer hole and instead buy the whole “be very afraid scam” are the fools.
Not a false choice. It is a choice.
Not in the real world. In the world, no one is going to seriously ask, “Should we take the money saved from Afghanistan and give it to NASA?” Everyone sensible knows that there are much more pressing priorities.
Looks like Rubio and Adams are the winners in Florida, I do not see them as strong space supporters who are going to say “let’s take that war money from Iraq and Pipelinestan and shift it over to NASA”
Hey, I agree with amightywind on this one:
“Giffords is ripe for upset.”
But I would have said that she is soft on wasteful government paper rockets.
“People who do not understand that the military industrial complex”
Include you as one of them, NASA is part of it.
But I would have said that she is soft on wasteful government paper rockets.
Which Windy would not have said, under any circumstances. Because CxP is the stuff of legends, but not of reality.
“Should we take the money saved from Afghanistan and give it to NASA?â€
You know I did not say that. Are you supposed to be some kind of journalist?
If so, you have alot to learn about putting words in peoples mouths. I would not touch you if I was an editor.
Well, it turns out that there was another race to watch for space enthusiasts, and it’s great news. Jim Oberstar lost his election yesterday.