Is There OIL on Mars? - American Oil Economics

By C. Moffat

George W. Bush has announced ambitious new plans for the United States to invade, oops, sorry, I mean "explore" Mars.

During his speech on January 14th, he promised a "new foothold on the moon" as he woos election-year voters. The idea is to woo voters with dreams of sending people to the moon and beyond. To build a space station and colony on the moon, and use the moon as a launching pad for missions to the Red Planet: Mars.

"We do not know where this journey will end yet we know this: human beings are headed into the cosmos," said the president.

"Along this journey, we'll make many technological breakthroughs," he promised. "Our efforts will be repaid many times over."

"We may discover resources on the moon or Mars that will boggle the imagination, that will test our limits to dream."

"We may discover resources on the moon or Mars"...?

What kind of resources? Strange glowing rocks that provide energy? Or alien technology that the Martians used to accidentally make themselves go extinct?

Or is he talking about something more simple... like say... oil? Lots of it. Enough for all of Bush's buddies.

So much for "space exploration"... this is turning into "oil exploration". Government funded and very expensive oil exploration, which American taxpayers will have to pay for and Bush's buddies will get the benefits. Its the same with Iraq. American money and American lives disappear... all to make Bush and his buddies more rich.

We all KNOW why Bush attacked Afghanistan and Iraq. The Unocal Oil Company wanted to build a pipeline across Afghanistan, and Bush owns stocks in that company. And Iraq? The largest oil reserves in the world, containing 90% of the world's oil reserves. That one is a no-brainer. Every British and American oil company is in on that deal.

And American taxpayers and Iraqi civilians have paid for that oil with blood.

But WAIT!

There might be oil on the moon or Mars...

Why don't we spend some more taxpayers money, develop ships to go to Mars, and take all the oil to make Bush and his buddies even more rich than they already are?

To boldly go where no Oil Tycoon has gone before...

Its quite easy to see how Bush's foreign policy works... if they have oil, bomb them until they surrender, take over their country, and steal all the oil.

This same principle apparently works for space exploration...

Bomb the aliens until they surrender, move them onto Alien Reserves (kinda like Indian Reserves, NAZI death camps & Palestinian refugee camps), take over their country, and steal all their technology, resources and oil.

And if there is no aliens, just rape the planet of Mars anyway for fun and profit!

"Space, the final oil fields... this is the voyage of the Starship "Oil Explorer"... its four year mission to explore strange new worlds, use up taxpayers dollars, kill non-Americans... to boldly take as much oil as we can!"

- Captain Bush.

"Captain! We can't do it! We don't have enough money!"

- Scotty & some old guy in Congress.

And thats basically what it comes down to. Congress is going to say no. Its simply too expensive, and Bush still hasn't even figured out how to pay for the two wars he got the country into. America is NOT making money off of the oil they are stealing. The oil companies are. Instead America is $500 billion dollars in debt from 2003 alone, which brings the US National debt to just over $7 trillion.

But hey, George W. Bush can still dream can't he...? He can dream of vast oil fields as far as the eye can see on distant planets... and no "axis of evil" Arabs who own the land.

BTW... whatever happened to North Korea? Aren't they in the Axis of Evil too?

No wait, North Korea doesn't have oil.

I guess they're not evil anymore.

It must be an election year.

The article above uses quotes from the following January 14th Toronto Star article:

Bush charts new course for space travel:

WASHINGTON (CP) - President George W. Bush unveiled an election-year vision of space exploration today, a big-budget bid to explore Mars that seeks to inspire voters and delay the heavy costs.

Bush wants to develop new spacecraft to carry Americans back to the moon by 2015 and build a long-term base there for missions to Mars and beyond.

"We'll build new ships to carry man forward into the universe to gain a new foothold on the moon and prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond our own," said Bush, reviving goals set out by his father 15 years ago but not endorsed by Congress.

"The vision I outline today is a journey, not a race, and I call on other nations to join us on this journey in a spirit of co-operation and friendship."

The U.S. would complete and withdraw from the International Space Station by 2010, using the intervening time to research the long-term effects of space travel on humans.

The space shuttle fleet, devastated by the explosion of Columbia nearly a year ago, would help finish the space station before it's retired the same year after nearly 30 years of service, more than 100 missions and the loss of 24 astronauts.

A new "crew exploration vehicle" would be developed and tested by 2008, said Bush, with the first "extended" mission to the moon seven years later and a goal of using the moon as a launching pad by 2020.

"Establishing an extended human presence on the moon could vastly reduce the cost of further space exploration," Bush said at NASA headquarters, "making possible ever more ambitious projects."

"Spacecraft assembled and provisioned on the moon could escape its far lower gravity using far less energy and thus far less cost."

Public opinion surveys suggest many Americans would rather spend the money to get to Mars - pegged by some at a whopping $750 billion US over the long term - on other things.

And the Republicans are already facing a record deficit approaching $500 billion this year that's been widely criticized.

In response, Bush proposed modest new spending for the space venture of only $1 billion over five years, while shifting $11 billion in federal money from other NASA programs.

The agency's Mars rover made a successful landing and has been beaming back pictures of the red planet in recent days.

The lion's share of the cost would have to be picked up by future governments, even if Bush wins a second term.

"This is only a beginning," acknowledged Bush, whose plan must be endorsed by Congress.

"Future funding decisions will be guided by the progress that we make in achieving these goals."

Some Democrats have been highly critical of Bush's space plans when the U.S. faces costly health care issues and other major concerns.

Bush's speech mirrored goals set out by his father's administration in 1989, when the senior Bush also proposed a base on the moon and a manned mission to Mars.

The National Space Council, then chaired by former vice-president Dan Quayle, envisioned the mission to be accomplished by 2019, the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing.

Congress curtly dismissed the plan, saying the $500 billion price tag was out of reach.

Bush emphasized advances made possible by space exploration, including successes in medical technology, weather forecasting, computers, robotics and electronics.

"We do not know where this journey will end yet we know this: human beings are headed into the cosmos," said the president.

"Along this journey, we'll make many technological breakthroughs," he promised. "Our efforts will be repaid many times over.

"We may discover resources on the moon or Mars that will boggle the imagination, that will test our limits to dream."

The Apollo program last landed astronauts on the moon 32 years ago. It began under president John F. Kennedy in 1961, who challenged Americans to a space race against the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.