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[Descan]

They see the writings on the wall, and are looking to get a Conservative Stronghold on the dusty rock in space, where they can hold a nuclear gun to the planet to get their terms dictated.

... Or something.

/tinfoilhat.

[Urist Imiknorris]

I think they want to send all the gays and brown people there.

[Descan]

I'm sure 10% gravity moonhomosex would be -awesome-.

[Frumple]

You guys are nuts. A project to build a moon base is a retarded idea and it would further bankrupt the country for no reason whatsoever.

Yeah, but the point is it'd be at least an interesting way of further bankrupting the country for no reason whatsoever. Which is better than a lot of stuff the politicians are pulling out of their arses.

I mean, shit, it's 2012. Yes, the internet thing is really damn interesting, and computing and stuff is totally in the sci-fi realm now, and yeah, yeah, we're getting closer to the stereotypical cyborg, but we were promised moon bases and flying cars, damnit. And they haven't gotten the latter cheap enough for mass production yet... or very effective, really.

So moon base, yanno'? It's harder to worry about the erosion of civil liberties when the folks on the podium are going, "M'fookin' moon base 凹(ﾟДﾟ)凹"

E:

I'm sure 10% gravity moonhomosex would be -awesome-.

I think they've got like, wind chambers or something that can mimic that already. No idea how much it'd cost (or if it were legal) to have a go in one of 'em, though. So that's a testable hypothesis

[MetalSlimeHunt]

You guys are nuts. A project to build a moon base is a retarded idea and it would further bankrupt the country for no reason whatsoever.

Anyways, didn't GW Bush mention something about wanting to build a base on the moon toward the later parts of his presidency? Is this suddenly some sort of neo-conservative ideological goal now? I'm not feeling this moon base vibe at all, man.

There is probably stuff we can learn from on the moon, and definitely stuff we can learn through the trial of building a base there. Also it probably wouldn't end up costing us all that much in the big picture. A drop in the bucket, because the bucket is 17 Trillion drops large in this case.

And if we ever need to get a head start on getting us some of that delicious He3...

(Also, we could rename the nation The United States of Amero-Moonica if we ever founded a state up there. That's a plus, probably.)

[Sirus]

Sadly, moonbases will have to wait. Aren't those futures filled with flying cars also usually shining utopias of peace and harmony? At least, the 50s versions were. Since we have nothing remotely resembling a utopia yet, no moon base. Think of it as an incentive 

[Luke_Prowler]

Actually, moon bases are pretty common in dystopias too, though usually dystopias can actually afford stuff

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Which is a failing of authors since we know that real oppressive regimes are not productive entities. Sure, you can treat your entire population like slaves, but you'll grind their will to function and produce for the nation down to almost nothing.

And absolutely nothing will be able to save you if they ever rise up. Nothing.

[GlyphGryph]

You guys are nuts. A project to build a moon base is a retarded idea and it would further bankrupt the country for no reason whatsoever.

You wound, me good sir. No good reason? Truly? Alas, my highest ideals apparently aren't worth the dirt on your boots. So be it!

But seriously, I can't think of a better thing to spend tax money on.

[Canalan]

You guys are nuts. A project to build a moon base is a retarded idea and it would further bankrupt the country for no reason whatsoever.

You wound, me good sir. No good reason? Truly? Alas, my highest ideals apparently aren't worth the dirt on your boots. So be it!

But seriously, I can't think of a better thing to spend tax money on.

Mars Colony.

[mainiac]

You guys are nuts. A project to build a moon base is a retarded idea and it would further bankrupt the country for no reason whatsoever.

You wound, me good sir. No good reason? Truly? Alas, my highest ideals apparently aren't worth the dirt on your boots. So be it!

But seriously, I can't think of a better thing to spend tax money on.

Mars Colony.

The cheapest way to colonize mars is to colonize the moon and then build your colony ship on the moon.  Then you get to mars and you realize there's bugger there and you go back to the moon which at least could be exploited for resources if you colonize it.

If you think the country is broke then you should be criticizing the parts of the budget that are actually substantial.  NASA's budget is tiny compared to something like defense and NASA has produced a very good return on investment with stuff like all those satellites that relay our communications, monitor our weather, give us the data for physics, etc.  It's not like people are just proposing a moon colony for shits and giggles, they are actually expecting a return on investment like the space program produced.

The mars colony is for shits and giggles.

[KaelGotDwarves]

Back on topic...

Newt is soaring ahead of Romney in Florida and nationally in certain polls, which means that Republicans will in fact take a double adulterer Washington insider over the Mormon businessman Washington Insider.

That's a great choice Republicans. Independents just love Newt Gingrich.

It's pretty wild too, considering Newt has no campaign organisation to speak of and was pretty much out of cash to campaign with.

If you're one for schadenfreude, just imagine if Romney spends all this money just to lose to Gingrich in the primary, which Obama defeats handily in the general election for a second term. Then Romney's taxes will go up.

[Sirus]

You guys are nuts. A project to build a moon base is a retarded idea and it would further bankrupt the country for no reason whatsoever.

You wound, me good sir. No good reason? Truly? Alas, my highest ideals apparently aren't worth the dirt on your boots. So be it!

But seriously, I can't think of a better thing to spend tax money on.

Education? Bringing down the national debt? Furthering science and knowledge? Sustainable power, water, and food? All of these things are far more important, and those last three would be tremendous help in actually running a moon colony once we got around to it.

[Canalan]

I don't understand Newt's appeal.  He sounds like he just inhaled a liter of helium, he looks like the Winston Churchill babby, his personal life sounds like the parody of a politician's personal life, his positions are utterly retarded, and he promised us a moon base, which he won't be able to deliver.  Is it the moon base?  Are people really that stupid?

Someone please explain this to me.  And I get that his positions are in line with the Republican platforms and whatnot, I just don't understand how humans can like this person.

[GlyphGryph]

Education?

Suffers from systemic problems, yes, but I honestly see spending the money directly on education doing less to inspire students to go into productive science careers than a moon base. In fact, wasn't the whole space race thing a huge boon for education? It captured people's minds, and suddenly education became a national priority because we had some real scientific, technological goal to look forward to together, as a society.

PLUS we get a moon base.

Thus, I think the moon base is a better investment.

Bringing down the national debt?

Not quite seeing how this is better than a moon base. Sure, it would be nice if it happened, but not only is it not gonna, but shit - do you know HOW MANY moon bases we could buy with the amount of money it would take to pay that down? Probably some asteroid bases and even a mars base too. Sorry, dollar for dollar, moon base wins. (Mostly because that's a lot of dollars)

Furthering science and knowledge?

Nothing furthers knowledge and science more than getting our culture to look up and think about knowledge and science. And nothing has proven more effective at doing that than expanding the frontiers of space, filling them with a sense of awe, wonder, and a real feeling of possibility. And there's not much that can do that quite as well as a moon base. (Especially if we taunt China about how we're going to build a moon base, and they decide to try for it too. Progress, ho!)

Sustainable power, water, and food?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. But I feel that whatever you mean, exactly, the research poured into a moon base could only help.

Sorry, dude - Moon Base wins.