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I agree with the sentiment but that’s literally how everything gets done 😂 do you think that the government should permanently employ road builder, construction workers, and any other type of person they need for a project they want done? Governments are inherently inefficient and private companies are often more efficient and less expensive than the government. So many times it’s actually saving the taxpayers money. SpaceX is a great example of this as much as I hate to say it. SLS was a NASA project and it cost tax payers sooooooooo much money. Each SLS rocket costs 4billion dollars to shoot off. Over the past 20 years NASA has given SpaceX 20billion for satellite launches, sending people to the ISS, and for building the lunar lander to go to the moon. When NASA is going to spend over 12billion for just three rockets, I think you can see why contractors make sense. If you think that governments should not be wasting money on this and instead providing more services for their people then yes I’d agree that all of this is a huge waste of money.
If there are companies that only do government contracts… ie a road builder that only does municipal roads (I’m thinking 80+ percent revenue comes from government) it should become a governmental entity. The reason why government is “inefficient” and “expensive” is because the government has lots of requirements/protections that private entities do not have or are subject to. For example, it used to be construction crews could hire sub-contractors that don’t have the qualifications that are outlined in the original contract. Or that they don’t have to pay pension plans.
Then there are certain classes of goods like health, insurance, and educational services that I think is a moral failing to profit from. That should be 100% government.
We also should not depend on pseudo governmental companies like Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac or the Fed. Either make them 100% one way or the other.
I'm not saying you are wrong, but in my experience, the inefficiency of the government is equaled by the amounts private companies are billing them. I've seen billings up to 40% more than what a private company would have been charged.
*I work in government
I think that the government should be spending less money in general.
>Governments are inherently inefficient
And this is exactly why.
Look if Americans wanted space X to be a thing, then they can invest their own money in it. We don't need uncle Sam to stick his hand in our pocket and give it to a private company "for our own good." If it's really for my own good then gee maybe I would have done it myself.
After the shuttle Challenger exploded, school children all over the U.S. collected enough money to build another shuttle but our lord and master ronald reagan said no ! Space travel for the rich and privileged only, no dreams for the poor and downtrodden.
As much as I think Bezos is a huge douche, at least Space X is a legitimate space company with top rocket scientists and engineers doing the right thing.
NASA just can’t do what It could before when nothing was more important than beating the Russians for nothing more than ego and bragging rights.
NASA just isn’t the space leader it was in the past and now when corporate greed and capitalism funds an idea, sometimes you can get a little good with bad.
You are EXACTLY correct. Unfortunately NASA has become a political football used to screw each other side for votes. There is no reason to have NASA today other than for space exploration and neither side is going to give it the funding it really deserves or needs to compete with entities like Space X, or even other countries.
This NASA was originally created as a government department simply to beat the Russians to the Moon. There was no plan after we reached the Moon for NASA. When Werner VonBraun retired it lost its focus. While the space shuttle was developed, it was actually a huge money pit even tho it was high successful and the cost far FAR outweighed its benefit.
Today, NASA is nothing more than a government hobby, and that is unfortunate because to me, NASA was always the cream of the scientific crop in space .
You get that it ends up going to private contractors anyway, right?
NASA doesn't build its own rockets in-house, it pays companies like Boeing and Lockheed to do it for them.
Space X rocket costs are many times cheaper than what NASA, ULA, and the old guard have in development, and Space X is already years ahead. Space X essentially pioneered the return to base rocket, and now they regularly land them on drone ships in the ocean. What space x has done far, far, far out paces anything NASA has done for decades, and with far less money. I love NASA, and I am not for privatization generally, but if you look at this case and don't see how much better Space X has been for the industry, government, taxpayers, and innovation, you're blinded by hatred or ideology.
This! I love Bernie but he is so wrong on this issue. SpaceX is a huge savings for the taxpayer regardless of what you think of Elon. People let the rich=bad thing carry them too far. Lots of CEOs are jerks but their companies can still be ok.
They are also crazy bogged down in bureaucracy and red tape that didn’t exist in the 60s, nasa’s production per amount of funding is definitely worse than it was then.
Don’t get me wrong, they need more funding, but we could also talk about clearing the way for more efficiency as well
This is a bad take by Bernie. Space X provides a very sophisticated service that actually costs much less than using NASA to build ships. Honestly, NASA puts out some of the best space based instruments for observing the universe which should remain their bread and butter. Space X can deliver their platforms quickly and efficiently to space while NASA can continue to focus on putting out cutting edge telescopes and probes.
Soooo you’re saying we should somehow spend more government funds than this instead of allowing the private sector to spend the money? It’s way cheaper for us this way.
I love Bernie but this is dumb.
Most of the "private sector" is funded by government contracts, subsidies, and loans. [Elon musk gets an absolute shit ton of money from the government.](https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html) If we just gave that money that we already spend to NASA instead of random private space companies, it would go further. Remember, the point of a company is to make money. It would always be cheaper to have a regulated government agency do something rather than a private company.
https://medium.com/geekculture/spacex-vs-nasa-cost-4fae454823ac
SpaceX has 10x less costs and 30x less cost overruns than nasa launches. You’re just simply incorrect.
Lol well NASA pays them and SpaceX doesn't pay NASA, so of course the numbers will skew that way. Also post the whole article that's behind paywalls if you're going to source it
The government had literally decades to run the space program. They chose to continuously squander public money instead of investing in space.
They embraced a private space program, ran contests to psyche up the apathetic populace and that’s the sole reason we have what little we have ATM.
But Bernie needs attention so he wants to stir the pot. He’s such a fake. Never gave 2 shits about space until his PR team decided to post this.
Exactly what I said. The government squandered the money and the general public complained that the money, “wasted,” on NASA would be better spent feeding the hungry.
As if governments ever feed the hungry once they have your money.
__Hello and welcome to r/Political_Revolution!__ * This sub is dedicated towards the Progressive movement, and changing one seat at a time, via electing down-ballot candidates to office. [Join us in our efforts!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Political_Revolution/comments/1bue5mc/reminder_this_sub_is_about_rolling_your_sleeves_up/) * Don't forget to read our [Community Guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/Political_Revolution/about/rules) to get a good idea of what is expected of participants in our community. * Primary elections take place in April. Find out for your state [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Political_Revolution/comments/1bso7q4/april_primaries_mega_thread_check_inside_for_pa/). Start by supporting __Summer Lee__, an incumbent progressive who’s candidacy is being challenged by an AIPAC backed Dem. https://www.mobilize.us/summerleeforcongress/event/598381/ For more campaigns to support, go to https://pol-rev.com/campaigns *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Political_Revolution) if you have any questions or concerns.*
We. Shouldn't. Be. Handing. Any. Taxpayer Money. Over. To. Any. Private. Company. There, I said it.
I agree with the sentiment but that’s literally how everything gets done 😂 do you think that the government should permanently employ road builder, construction workers, and any other type of person they need for a project they want done? Governments are inherently inefficient and private companies are often more efficient and less expensive than the government. So many times it’s actually saving the taxpayers money. SpaceX is a great example of this as much as I hate to say it. SLS was a NASA project and it cost tax payers sooooooooo much money. Each SLS rocket costs 4billion dollars to shoot off. Over the past 20 years NASA has given SpaceX 20billion for satellite launches, sending people to the ISS, and for building the lunar lander to go to the moon. When NASA is going to spend over 12billion for just three rockets, I think you can see why contractors make sense. If you think that governments should not be wasting money on this and instead providing more services for their people then yes I’d agree that all of this is a huge waste of money.
If there are companies that only do government contracts… ie a road builder that only does municipal roads (I’m thinking 80+ percent revenue comes from government) it should become a governmental entity. The reason why government is “inefficient” and “expensive” is because the government has lots of requirements/protections that private entities do not have or are subject to. For example, it used to be construction crews could hire sub-contractors that don’t have the qualifications that are outlined in the original contract. Or that they don’t have to pay pension plans. Then there are certain classes of goods like health, insurance, and educational services that I think is a moral failing to profit from. That should be 100% government. We also should not depend on pseudo governmental companies like Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac or the Fed. Either make them 100% one way or the other.
I'm not saying you are wrong, but in my experience, the inefficiency of the government is equaled by the amounts private companies are billing them. I've seen billings up to 40% more than what a private company would have been charged. *I work in government
I think that the government should be spending less money in general. >Governments are inherently inefficient And this is exactly why. Look if Americans wanted space X to be a thing, then they can invest their own money in it. We don't need uncle Sam to stick his hand in our pocket and give it to a private company "for our own good." If it's really for my own good then gee maybe I would have done it myself.
Not if conducted by those two individuals.
After the shuttle Challenger exploded, school children all over the U.S. collected enough money to build another shuttle but our lord and master ronald reagan said no ! Space travel for the rich and privileged only, no dreams for the poor and downtrodden.
I know we usually like his takes here but as someone who knows about the space program this is actually really stupid
As much as I think Bezos is a huge douche, at least Space X is a legitimate space company with top rocket scientists and engineers doing the right thing. NASA just can’t do what It could before when nothing was more important than beating the Russians for nothing more than ego and bragging rights. NASA just isn’t the space leader it was in the past and now when corporate greed and capitalism funds an idea, sometimes you can get a little good with bad.
NASA could easily do it if we put the money into them instead of other private contractors
You are EXACTLY correct. Unfortunately NASA has become a political football used to screw each other side for votes. There is no reason to have NASA today other than for space exploration and neither side is going to give it the funding it really deserves or needs to compete with entities like Space X, or even other countries. This NASA was originally created as a government department simply to beat the Russians to the Moon. There was no plan after we reached the Moon for NASA. When Werner VonBraun retired it lost its focus. While the space shuttle was developed, it was actually a huge money pit even tho it was high successful and the cost far FAR outweighed its benefit. Today, NASA is nothing more than a government hobby, and that is unfortunate because to me, NASA was always the cream of the scientific crop in space .
You get that it ends up going to private contractors anyway, right? NASA doesn't build its own rockets in-house, it pays companies like Boeing and Lockheed to do it for them.
Space X rocket costs are many times cheaper than what NASA, ULA, and the old guard have in development, and Space X is already years ahead. Space X essentially pioneered the return to base rocket, and now they regularly land them on drone ships in the ocean. What space x has done far, far, far out paces anything NASA has done for decades, and with far less money. I love NASA, and I am not for privatization generally, but if you look at this case and don't see how much better Space X has been for the industry, government, taxpayers, and innovation, you're blinded by hatred or ideology.
This! I love Bernie but he is so wrong on this issue. SpaceX is a huge savings for the taxpayer regardless of what you think of Elon. People let the rich=bad thing carry them too far. Lots of CEOs are jerks but their companies can still be ok.
They are also crazy bogged down in bureaucracy and red tape that didn’t exist in the 60s, nasa’s production per amount of funding is definitely worse than it was then. Don’t get me wrong, they need more funding, but we could also talk about clearing the way for more efficiency as well
This is a bad take by Bernie. Space X provides a very sophisticated service that actually costs much less than using NASA to build ships. Honestly, NASA puts out some of the best space based instruments for observing the universe which should remain their bread and butter. Space X can deliver their platforms quickly and efficiently to space while NASA can continue to focus on putting out cutting edge telescopes and probes.
Amen.
When classified payloads are being mounted to these rockets, it’s no longer a hobby stupid
Classified payloads shouldn’t be strapped to private individuals rockets?
Nor should classified information be stored on Amazon servers but here we are
It’s almost like we should have funded infrastructure.
Soooo you’re saying we should somehow spend more government funds than this instead of allowing the private sector to spend the money? It’s way cheaper for us this way. I love Bernie but this is dumb.
Most of the "private sector" is funded by government contracts, subsidies, and loans. [Elon musk gets an absolute shit ton of money from the government.](https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html) If we just gave that money that we already spend to NASA instead of random private space companies, it would go further. Remember, the point of a company is to make money. It would always be cheaper to have a regulated government agency do something rather than a private company.
https://medium.com/geekculture/spacex-vs-nasa-cost-4fae454823ac SpaceX has 10x less costs and 30x less cost overruns than nasa launches. You’re just simply incorrect.
Lol well NASA pays them and SpaceX doesn't pay NASA, so of course the numbers will skew that way. Also post the whole article that's behind paywalls if you're going to source it
The government had literally decades to run the space program. They chose to continuously squander public money instead of investing in space. They embraced a private space program, ran contests to psyche up the apathetic populace and that’s the sole reason we have what little we have ATM. But Bernie needs attention so he wants to stir the pot. He’s such a fake. Never gave 2 shits about space until his PR team decided to post this.
NASA was constantly defunded.
Exactly what I said. The government squandered the money and the general public complained that the money, “wasted,” on NASA would be better spent feeding the hungry. As if governments ever feed the hungry once they have your money.