Having shrunk the government and produced a Budget Surplus, the Bush Administration is looking for a major initiative to absorb all the excess funds.

Advocates have argued that the moon could be useful in many other ways, as a base for developing technologies, for astronomical observations and for human rehearsals for operating in space. One person consulted by the White House said officials think a renewed push into space would fuel the manufacturing and technology sectors of the economy...
The Department of Heath and Human Services is developing a proposal that would funnel billions of dollars over at least a decade into relatively noncontroversial research into cures for cancer and other diseases. A GOP official said this effort could be "the Republican equivalent of the War on Poverty."

I'm beginning to think that the strategy should be to vote to elect Democrats to Congress, figuring that they will reflexively act to block whatever Bush does, even if it's a government expansion that the Democrats would favor. You'd have to cross your fingers and hope that they don't decide to work with him.

There are actually a lot of potential New, New Things out there. Wireless...nanotech...brother Zack keeps promoting neurotech...

I mean, if the government wants to spend more on scientific research and less on granny-bribing, that would be ok with me. But the more capital the government sucks up, the less will be available to the private sector to develop any of the New, New Things.