Just 2 months ago, NASA canceled the X-Ray Telescope Mission due to budget cuts.

Obama’s proposed 2013 budget, which, like all his budgets, failed to garner a single vote in the Senate, slashed $300 million dollars from NASA.

Last night, the $2.5 BILLION dollar Curiosity Mars Rover made a successful landing on our neighboring planet and, always one to grab for credit, the Obama white house released this statement:

“Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history.

The successful landing of Curiosity – the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet – marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future. It proves that even the longest of odds are no match for our unique blend of ingenuity and determination.

Tonight’s success, delivered by NASA, parallels our major steps forward towards a vision for a new partnership with American companies to send American astronauts into space on American spacecraft. That partnership will save taxpayer dollars while allowing NASA to do what it has always done best – push the very boundaries of human knowledge. And tonight’s success reminds us that our preeminence – not just in space, but here on Earth – depends on continuing to invest wisely in the innovation, technology, and basic research that has always made our economy the envy of the world.

Isn’t that special?

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