Hi everybody,
This is my view on the sequester: it's theater of the absurd. Yes, sadly, Chris, pimping to the oil industry is the most lucrative option and you may well have to do it, largely because they've gotten the power and the money. Conversely, a good devatating quake could change all that. My congressman is an idiot, also. I personally know that my bazillionaire neighbor who makes his bucks off war is pumping big money into keeping this guy in office no matter what. I am still getting 2-3 robocalls (like those before the election) every week. Why spend money like that when people like me have cancer that can't be cured? Oh, yeah, that research will likely get cut, too.
What I believe is simple: we have political parties who are the driving forces to keep this theater of the absurd going. It's their drama. The more they fight, pout, get petulant, and stir the pot, the more attention they get. Look it up. The heads of the parties have more power than you can imagine. The more stirred up this is, the more they can command. Pure ego. So why do we have to have parties? Why are they allowed such a stranglehold over the rest of us? Why can't each idiot in Washington stand on their own two feet and represent? That would clean up their acts and bring things to light. Because it would ruin the party for those making a life out of it.
Oh, BTW, my daughter is a sophomore at CU with a double major. Her first is geology, because she loves seismology and really wants to be a seismologist. Her second, is theater. Tall, leggy, blond, and beautiful, maybe she can someday go to Washington and have an edge when she fights for seismology. The way I look at it, it may be the only way to save science.
Have a good day, everybody, and remember it's not forever, it's only until the politicians realize that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or in their case a giant backlash.
Beth