Wow. WOW. Was that ever an over-reaction.

I believe all GapStop was trying to point out is that perhaps the private sector could be looked at for sources of funding rather than just relying on the government (read: congress) to fight over who gets what, especially in terms of how it benefits their particular district.

I think you read a little too much into his comments.

That is part of the problem with relying on government. This is exactly the reason why funding should be sought from the public via charity. Even if you tried to change the attitude towards science in the congress people will still fight over what type of research should be funded because there will always be scarcity. Now private funding is more viable than ever given that the internet has allowed for people to organize around topics they like. With the internet there is a global pool of resources to draw from being that connections between people around the world have become commonplace.”

GapStop, I give you credit for the slickest, slimiest pro-Republichristian, anti-government attack I have ever seen.

Right, remove all government interaction, nay, destroy the federal government. Then charitable citizens will flock to fund NASA, welfare, social security, health care, foreign aid, etc., etc., etc.
This nonsense is so beyond WRONG that I don’t even know where to begin. This is the same as the Reagan idiocy about “voluntary” self-regulation by businesses. Business will NEVER voluntarily regulate itself and charities will NEVER take the place of federal government.

On the surface… it seems to inhibit advances in human space flight, and I personally think that the USA need some real competition in space before anything changes…

No matter if that competition is created by private companies… or other nations.