

Senate agrees to fund the James Webb Space Telescope - breadbox
http://www.universetoday.com/88928/senate-saves-the-james-webb-space-telescope/

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OstiaAntica
Yeah this is just the Senate subcommittee bill, which is run by a big spending
Marylander who represents the program's home base in Greenbelt. It still has
to pass the full committee and then the full Senate. Plus the U.S. House. And
there's also a budget supercommittee that's supposed to propose major cuts
later this year.

Just some context. Meanwhile, this year Fannie Mae will get more direct
bailout funding than NASA's entire budget. The Bush and Obama policy is
continuous and the same, sacrificing science for subsidized mortgages and bank
bailouts. Enjoy those granite countertops, people!

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guelo
Good point about Fannie Mae subsidy, but the real housing subsidy is the home
mortgage interest tax deduction which costs $130 billion per year. There's
also a subsidy in the form of a capital gains exemption when selling a primary
residence, I don't know how much that one costs.

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underdown
the interest tax deduction costs exactly ZERO. in what bizarro world does NOT
taxing the citizens equate to a "cost"?

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derobert
Well, it doesn't cost exactly zero, as there are costs to handling the
paperwork, etc. And if you look at economy-wide costs, it distorts economic
decision-making, which definitely has costs.

But what the OP is referring to as "cost" would be better said as repealing it
would bring the budget $130 billion closer to balance (through increased
revenue). But if you insist on that distinction, make sure not to call (for
example) tax credits offered for renewable energy a cost, either.

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robryan
That is awesome. Would have been a big waste of time and resources, not to
mention a big hit for ongoing science if they had chosen to scrap it.

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hypersoar
I very much hope that the JWST gets built, but let us not soccumb to the sunk
cost fallacy.

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robryan
Yeah perhaps I didn't phrase that to well, from what I read the cost required
to complete and the opportunity cost given the lead time on these projects I
think makes sense to go ahead, of course there is a limit to how much money it
makes sense to pump into the project.

