What's New Robert L. Park 31 Jan 2012

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park  Tuesday, 31 Jan 2012   Washington, DC=20

1. SUCCESSFUL:  AS DEFINED IN THE NEW REPUBLICAN DICTIONARY.
Thursday night's debate between Republican wannabes in Florida was as=20
exciting as a shuffleboard match between rival retirement communities. =20
Romney put his finger squarely on the big issue: "I think it's important=20
for people to make sure that we don't castigate individuals because they=92=
ve=20
been successful," an apparent reference to the millions revealed in his=20
federal financial disclosure statements.  But Romney=92s millions are not=
 a=20
measure of his business success.  He=92s rich because he was born rich in=
 a=20
country with shamefully regressive tax laws.  Indeed, much of Romney=92s=20
wealth is in blind trusts, as it should be for every independently-wealth=
y=20
public servant.=20

2. LUNACY: BACK TO THE APOLLO MOON RACE?=20
Newt Gingrich, the other top contender, wants to construct a permanent=20
human base on the Moon before China does.  In fact, Gingrich says he woul=
d=20
like to see six or seven lunar launches every week. Doing what?  It's bee=
n=20
40 years sincea human traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Since then, space=20
has become an essential element of the fastest growing segment of our=20
economy: Space communications, weather observations, remote viewing, glob=
al=20
positioning, climate monitoring, exploration of the solar system, the=20
discovery of exoplanets, and global climate change studies, are all=20
robotic. Nothing of significance has been learned from human spaceflight.=
=20
Apollo itself was a political mission. The space shuttle was terminated a=
nd=20
the ISS, which produced nothing of value, now belongs to an international=
=20
consortium.  For an American astronaut to visit the ISS, a ticket on a=20
Russian rocket would have to be purchased. We already have a word for tho=
se=20
who clamor to send Americans back to the moon: "lunatics." It's a popular=
=20
idea in Florida, which lost a lot of space jobs. Mitt Romney warns that t=
he=20
Gingrich plan would be "an enormous expense."  It's worse than that; it's=
=20
insane. Gingrich says his Moon base would be "90% private sector."  How d=
o=20
you persuade the private sector to get involved in something as useless a=
s=20
a Moon base? Gingrich says he will offer incentives to the private sector=
=20
in the form of "prizes" for meeting specific technical goals.  Is a prize=
=20
cheaper than a contract?

COLLEGE: THE PRESIDENT WANTS TO CUT TUITION COSTS.=20
To compete with the other 7 billion inhabitants of our planet, the 312=20
million citizens of the United States must maintain a high level of=20
education in every field of human endeavor, but particularly in science=20
which leads the drive for change. On Friday, Pres. Obama proposed a plan =
of=20
incentives to reduce college tuition costs. However, the plan would requi=
re=20
congressional approval and Republicans object to adding expensive new=20
proposals at the time of spiraling national debt. There are countless=20
issues involving questions of fairness, church and state, and academic=20
standards that would have to be worked out. This could emerge as one of t=
he=20
most compelling issues of the coming election.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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