NASA's new congresscritter...

Now that the Texas republicans have taken gerrymandering to a
whole new dimension, it will be interesting to see what the fallout will
be. On a space related note, Tom "the hammer" DeLay is now the prougd
representative of the Johnson Space Center. The JSC was formerly in the
9th district of Nick Lampson. Unfortunately, he was a Democrat. So his
district was eliminated and DeLay's 22nd district will pick up the JSC.
As the Houston Chronicle reports today, the Texas Medical Center is likewise
being stripped from a Democrat and handed to another prominent Texas
Republican, John Culberson.
The incorporation of the JSC into DeLay's district is seen as an
attempt to butress his "safe" district, which has been hit by the sagging
economy and business migration outward. Now the powerful House Speaker has
a directly government-reliant consituency that will depend on him for
dollars from Washington. Republicans say that moving JSC to the HOuse
Leaders district will help NASA and keep NASA money coming in state. It will
also allow DeLay to tap the "cash cow" of relatively affluent and politically
knowledgeable NASA employees.
I'm not certain if this will have any long term effects for NASA
funding. DeLay is considered to have a "safe" seat -- but look at the fall
of Newt Gingrich. On the other hand, acquiring JSC is one way to avoid taking
such a fall. DeLay is a "traditional fiscal conservative" who hates spending
when it is spent on anything outside his district. It remains to be seen,
however, if how much of his considerable political capital he will expend in
efforts to protect or increase JSC funding.

regards,
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