# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 920
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18382 "2015-01-12T21:34:22Z")
I think the “competitiveness” part applies specifically to the other two things, possibly a hold-over from the days of the moon race. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18383 "2015-01-12T21:35:51Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > “Space, Science, and Competitiveness”?? Are we playing "One of these things is not like the Other? > > Is there a committee on Farming, Agriculture and Ethics? Mining, Industry and Renaissance Art? Not sure – the Wiki page calls it the [“Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Commerce_Subcommittee_on_Science_and_Space) f/k/a “Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences.” (Maybe they just now changed the name again?) It is a subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. > [@](#): > > The Subcommittee’s jurisdiction includes oversight of NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. For the 111th Congress, the Subcommittee gained additional jurisdiction on science matters from the former United States Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation.[1] ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18384 "2015-01-12T21:46:42Z")
Hey! So, not as stupid as it sounds! Today is a\* good\* day… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18385 "2015-01-12T22:42:51Z")
Well, according to [this press release,](http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8452ed0b-18be-4057-a376-babfd31322cb) Cruz is to be chair of the subcommittee on “Space, Science, and Competitiveness.” So, I guess they did just change the name, again. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18386 "2015-01-12T23:07:21Z")
Cruz will be our black hole on Space. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18387 "2015-01-12T23:16:02Z")
Glenn Beck: “[It’s Obama’s fault that that bridal store in Ohio had to close](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/beck-blames-obama-closing-ohio-bridal-shop-after-ebola-scare).” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18388 "2015-01-12T23:24:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Ted Cruz is now chair of the Senate subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness.](http://www.salon.com/2015/01/12/oh_dear_theyve_put_ted_cruz_in_charge_of_nasa/) > > Yes. Ted Cruz is now in charge of NASA. I feel like someone is pulling my leg. I mean, this has to be a joke. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18389 "2015-01-12T23:26:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Scrooge dies shortly thereafter, and goes to Hell anyway, because really, one fucking goose? That’s supposed to balance it all out? A whole life of being a miserable stingy asshole, and he buys one fucking goose and its all OK? Well, that and: > [@](#): > > “Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge, “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,” he continued, leaping from his stool, and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again; “and therefore I am about to raise your salary!” > > Bob trembled, and got a little nearer to the ruler. He had a momentary idea of knocking Scrooge down with it, holding him, and calling to the people in the court for help and a strait-waistcoat. > > “A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!” > > Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him. > > He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18390 "2015-01-12T23:28:47Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I feel like someone is pulling my leg. I mean, this has to be a joke. [This press release](http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8452ed0b-18be-4057-a376-babfd31322cb) ain’t from _The Onion._ ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18391 "2015-01-13T00:13:04Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > A whole life of being a miserable stingy asshole, and he buys one fucking goose and its all OK? Not just a goose, _The Prize Turkey!_ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18392 "2015-01-13T01:53:42Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Not just a goose, _The Prize Turkey!_ We are still talking about Ted Cruz, right? ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18393 "2015-01-13T01:59:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > We are still talking about Ted Cruz, right? Turkeys may take umbrage… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18394 "2015-01-13T02:06:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Ted Cruz is now chair of the Senate subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness.](http://www.salon.com/2015/01/12/oh_dear_theyve_put_ted_cruz_in_charge_of_nasa/) > > Yes. Ted Cruz is now in charge of NASA. PRAISE JESUS!!! Finally, we’ll get the truth about Obama’s goddamn Moon landing HOAX!!!11!!! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18395 "2015-01-13T02:08:40Z")
Quick, someone tell Cruz if he builds a manned Mars colony, all the poor people and liberals will move there. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18396 "2015-01-13T02:10:57Z")
Interestingly, Cruz is from Texas, the biggest town in Texas is Houston, we have a problem. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18397 "2015-01-13T02:12:09Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > PRAISE JESUS!!! Finally, we’ll get the truth about Obama’s goddamn Moon landing HOAX!!!11!!! > > CMC fnord! [Well, it involved a massive rocket . . .](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6MOnehCOUw) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18398 "2015-01-13T02:15:02Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Quick, someone tell Cruz if he builds a manned Mars colony, all the poor people and liberals will move there. It’s true. They will. Thereby presenting vast new wide-open American spaces to the Mexicans . . . heh-heh-heh . . . ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18399 "2015-01-13T02:56:53Z")
> [@](#): > > He had no further intercourse with Spirits… A step in the right direction, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18400 "2015-01-13T02:57:52Z")
You mean the Cubans. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/18401 "2015-01-13T05:01:30Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [This press release](http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=8452ed0b-18be-4057-a376-babfd31322cb) ain’t from _The Onion._ The press release definitely refers to the Subcommittee on _Space, Science & Competitiveness_. But if you click on the Subcommittees tab, you see the name “Subcommittee on _Science & Space_.” But you also see the old lineup in charge–so maybe the new name is one of my Jr Senator’s brainstorms. This is not a surprise, given his position on whatever subcommittee they’re calling it now. Of course he’s a rotten choice–but he’d be rotten anywhere. Cruz has campaigned with his father–who is a Young Earth Creationist, among other things. However, with NASA in Texas, cutting too much funding will not win him friends here. The real question: Will Cruz take enough time off his Presidential campaign to do much damage in the subcommittee? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=919) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=921)