The United States hasn't had a serious investment in NASA since the early 70s. Both Republicans and Democrats have never seen the spin off benefits which have been a boom to our economy. Well maybe a little bit of shock treatment might help NASA get some over due funding:
China likely to beat U.S. back to the moon, NASA says
"Here's one Olympic-style event that China is likely to win: landing the next humans on the moon. Chinese astronauts are on schedule to beat the United States back to the moon by two or three years, the head of NASA's lunar exploration program said Wednesday. "If they keep on the path they're on, they can" land before Americans do, said Rick Gilbreth, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems.
The goal of NASA's Constellation program is to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, as proposed in President Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. Gilbreth said the Chinese could accomplish that by 2017 or 2018. The Chinese lead will be even longer if the American schedule slips, as some space experts predict."