NASA money could pay for basic needs

U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, in response to Sen. Bill Frist’s recent support of stem-cell research, suggests forcing Americans to fund scientific research they find morally reprehensible is wrong, unfair and unjust. Yet NASA, whom he so willingly praises and whose only intrinsic benefit to America and mankind is simply an increase of our knowledge base, forces Americans to pay billions of dollars in taxes annually. Dollars that could otherwise be spent on more practical and pressing issues, such as health care, education, unemployment, Social Security and even food for starving children right here in the United States. Is it not morally reprehensible to DeLay that NASA continues to be super-funded while such important and fundamental issues have yet to be resolved?

Kelly A. Parks

Everett