So, no matter what Bush proposes, it's "just a re-election ploy". What a convenient way to avoid thinking on issues! I'll have to remember that whenever Howard Dean makes a "policy statement".

Well, Mark, what else could they be? These type of major government driven programs require lots of money, and between wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Bush's massive tax cuts, Bush obviously hasn't had these type of proposed big ideas on his priority list. They're just coming up as re-election nears, and if he gets re-elected, I'd be shocked if they weren't dropped or minimized in a second term.

Well, Mark, it's not like conservatives ever credited any of Clinton's policies as anything other than reacting to polls.

It's hard to take Bush honestly. As Rush Limbaugh pointed out to conservatives many times during the 2000 election, don't worry about what Bush is saying on the campaign trail: He's only sounding like a moderate. In other words, Bush wasn't being honest about what he was. And that's from the mouth of one of your own.

With apologies to Bob and David:

NBS News is reporting that President Bush has announced his plans for the U.S. to finally blow up the moon! The Dixie Chicks have already voiced their opposition, but fellow country singer Toby Keith says they are a bunch of unpatriotic moon lovers and has written a new song promising to put a moonboot in the ass of anyone opposed to moon destruction.

Pretty shrewd, pretty shrewed...If the government is successful in promoting longevity, boosting the average lifespan to, say, 120 years, think of how many more decades citizens will be around to pay taxes!

Oh, wait, think of how many more decades they'd be collecting Social Security!

Oh well, we'll nip that Entitlement Puppy in the bud soon enough.

Moreover, I'd note that in the last 30 years, presidential space goals have not been met.

Around 1970, President Nixon's space shuttle idea was far more elaborate than what we ended up getting stuck with - a multi-billion dollar white elephant.

In 1984, Reagan called for a space station by the end of the decade. We do have a space station, but it wasn't until 1999 (almost 10 years past the deadline, and with Russian help to boot!) that it was put on-orbit.

In 1991, Bush the Father announced the Space Exploration Initiative, calling for landings on the moon and Mars in or around 2010. Current progress is way off the mark, to say the least.

My sense is that Bush is still trying to live out his Kennedy complex, which is politically palatable to his neoconservative staffers now that the Chinese sent ONE man into space.

I seriously doubt any proposal put forth by Bush will go anywhere, simply because sufficient political will does not exist for far-reaching space agenda.

As for the politics of the thing...

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001808055_space05.html

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"This official said Bush's closest aides are promoting big initiatives on the theory that they contribute to Bush's image as a decisive leader even if people disagree with some of the specifics.

'Iraq was big. AIDS is big,' the official said. 'Big works. Big grabs attention.'"

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"The development of big ideas for Bush's 2004 agenda is being led by Bush's senior adviser, Karl Rove, the officials said. Administration officials said options have not been presented to the president, let alone decided, but the search is active for ambitious initiatives to flesh out a re-election agenda that also includes limiting lawsuits, making the tax cuts permanent and adding private investment accounts to the Social Security system.

One person who has been consulted by the White House said some aides appear to relish the idea of a 'Kennedy moment' for Bush, referring to the 1962 call by President Kennedy for the nation to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade."

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"Political calculations are involved, Republican sources said. One presidential adviser noted that a major anti-disease initiative would be popular with baby boomers. One quality the proposals have in common is that they are not obviously divisive. "

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Basically, it's a "distract people from my corporate, anti-working family agenda by talking about stuff that we can't afford" play.

Typical Bush insanity.

NBS News is reporting that President Bush has announced his plans for the U.S. to finally blow up the moon!

In fact, the intent is to NUKE the Moon!

In a similar vein, I still think Bush should nuke the sun Fifth Element style (the "Bush doctrine dilemma" firingline)