Congress Pushes Back (Again) On Trump's NASA Budget Cuts
House Appropriators Propose $19.9 Billion for NASA, Full Funding for JPSS and GOES, SpacePolicyOnline
“Trump proposed a substantial cut for NASA in his FY2018 budget request — from the $19.653 billion provided by Congress in FY2017 to $19.092 billion for FY2018 and the same total for each of the subsequent four years. The House CJS subcommittee recommendation is an increase not only above the Trump request, but also above the FY2017 level: $19.872 billion.”
That “substantial” budget cut works out to be 2.8%
That’s a big number in government-speak. And it’s a lot of jobs.
We in the private sector see much more substantial budget changes on a monthly to yearly basis. Government should NOT be a protected category. Get real, become a business owner, try to meet payroll when one of your customers/clients go belly up and you are left with 12% accounts receivable that will never be made “well…” Cry me a river…
The private sector has the flexibility to go out and make more contracts. Government entities such as NASA are entirely reliant on someone else (congress) dictating their budget. It’s not an apt comparison in the slightest
That flexibility isn’t limited to going out and getting contracts. Private companies can borrow money if the have a bad year (Congress can but NASA can’t), can save up money from a good year to cover expenses in a bad year, can cancel or de-scope projects if it looks like they can’t afford them, etc. Oh, and private companies can sell advertising space on their rockets.
Having been a businessman for 40 years I can say one thing for sure: Government and Business are completely different animals. Asking government to be run “like a business” is simply informed foolishness.