Putting Senator Ted Cruz in charge of the committee on Space, Science and Competitiveness is the definition of letting the inmates run the asylum. Cruz is a creationist, climate-change denying shill for the oil industry whose only concern is how their bottom line will affect his campaign contributions.
At a recent NASA budget hearing, Senator Cruz asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden what the “core mission” of NASA is. Bolden replied:
Our core mission from the very beginning has been to investigate, explore space and the Earth environment, and to help us make this place a better place.
Cruz, feeling the need to express just how little he knows about the entity most related to the committee he chairs, said to Bolden:
Almost any American would agree that the core function of NASA is to explore space. That’s what inspires little boys and little girls across this country. . . and you know that I am concerned that NASA in the current environment has lost its full focus on that core mission.
Cruz’s intentions here couldn’t be more transparent. With a “stop looking into climate change” mentality coupled with some “inspire the children” false intentions, Cruz showed exactly what he’s all about. NASA, with a 41 percent increase in earth sciences funding since the shuttle program shut down, is a world-leader in understanding our planet.
Ted Cruz just can’t have that, can he? He showed Bolden a chart of NASA’s budget, pointing out the increase in earth science and decrease (by 7 percent) in exploration spending.
In response to Cruz’s ludicrous remarks and silly chart, Bolden said:
Mr. Chairman, I am very interested in your chart. I will say one thing—it is interesting to note that there is a decrease in exploration and human spaceflight when, in fact, that was somewhat intentional because we were trying to get the cost of exploration down as we reach farther out into the solar system.
The fact that earth science [funding] has increased, I’m proud to say, has enabled us to understand our planet far better than we ever did before.
Understand our planet? The very notion is preposterous to someone like Cruz. The planet is here to provide humans with oil, land to frack, holes to fill with garbage and oceans to contaminate with waste.
In a hilarious little bit of snark, Bolden added:
We can’t go anywhere if the Kennedy Space Center goes underwater and we don’t know it — and that’s understanding our environment.
Thank you, Mr. Bolden, for showing the American people just how qualified the committee chair isn’t.
NASA administrator to Ted Cruz: Do you even science, bro?
H/T: Think Progress | Image: Screen Capture From YouTube
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