A Particular Insight

Orion ISS Rendezvous.jpg
We don’t know who MissionControl is, but the comment left by MissionControl over at SpacePolitics.com is interesting in that, based on what we know, the author seems to have some insider knowledge of events.

“The tide has decisively turned against Lori Garver and her cohorts who created the disastrous NASA budget and plan for FY 2011.

Congress could not be clearer in its rejection of the ill conceived plan Garver developed and sprung on Administrator Charlie Bolden in February. The Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee and House Science & Technology Space Subcommittee have all weighed in with well thought out plans which look far more like NASA’s baseline plan than the road to nowhere scheme proposed by Garver.

Word has it Garver was intentionally left out of deliberations between Congress and the White House. This is ironic since earlier this year she cut Administrator Bolden out of the creation of the NASA plan.

While last week Garver tried to spin the Senate bill as a victory saying, “We think this is a great start. It accomplishes the major shifts the President set out to have for the space program”, clearly the bill is a major defeat for her.

If anything the Senate Appropriations and House Science & Technology Space Subcommittee bills are even more of a resounding defeat for Garver

One needs to bear in mind Garver is not solely responsible for the failed NASA plan hatched in February. Her accomplices were Jim Kohlenberger of OSTP and Paul Shawcross of OMB.

Their plan has proven to be a major embarrassment for President Obama and is now totally rejected. Congress has been unnecessarily by Garver’s antics, and thousands of people have lost their jobs unnecessarily because of her.

It’s time for Garver and her associates to go. President Obama should remove all three of them. Garver, Kohlenberger and Shawcross should have nothing to do with NASA as the nation moves forward with the solid plan Congress has developed. They will only be impediments and should be removed immediately.”

8 Comments

  1. Usually I do not post on blogs, but I would like to say that this article really forced me to do so! Thanks, really nice article.

  2. According to Garver’s Nasa bio: She hasn’t been in space nor been an astronaut in training for space exploration. Her jobs have been primarily as a space policy advsor for H.Clinton, J. Kerry campaigns. She was chosen as the candidate for the current job based on the fact she is a bean counter who also has degrees in public policy. Her jobs in the private sector included mergers and acquistions to financial institutions and fortune 500 companies. Garver’s focus is turning over Nasa completely to civil companies so they can control space exploration verses Nasa which is a part of the United States of America. Keep in mind, this one will not have a problem giving jobs to those who are not in America. She is definitely not interested in the local economies that will be affected with job losses. Obama and Garver do not care about America’s space program or jobs.

  3. http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/candidates/english/garver_lori.htm

    According to this link, Garver wanted to be a space tourist with the Russian space program but the plan was cancelled due to financial issues. Why she is the Deputy puzzles me. She’s more of talking head rather than someone who has first hand experience in space exploration or actually building/engineering technology for Americans in space. Clearly Obama convinced Congress to put her in that job but now they are seeing she is actually but a talking head vs proponent for America to stay strong in space.

  4. An Open Letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
    July 26, 2010

    Dear Administrator Bolden:

    Congress has recently voted on legislation which will put NASA on a sensible path, which Congress, the White House and NASA can all use so the space agency can move beyond its current malaise to a bright future.

    It’s quite clear to everyone the primary cause of this malaise is your Deputy, Lori Garver.

    Now that Congress has spoken it’s time for you to take action and remove Ms. Garver. It’s time for you to have a heart to heart, one on one, with President Obama and tell him why she needs to go.

    At the same time, take the opportunity to request that the President remove the co-architects of the disastrous FY 2011 budget and plan, Jim Kohlenberger of OSTP and Paul Shawcross of OMB.

    Beth Robinson, NASA CFO, has been an active participant in the plan and its execution, especially the effort to reduce in size and scope critical space exploration contracts, clearly going against the will of Congress, if not the letter of the law. Ms. Robinson should be reassigned.

    Everyone knows when you were offered the job as Administrator you had no choice in terms of picking a Deputy, you were assigned Ms. Garver. The ill conceived plan she and her allies developed, which you were not read-in on until the last minute before budget release in February, infuriated Congress.

    Ms. Garver chose to leak the plan to her friends in the press before allowing you to pre-brief NASA’s best allies in Congress. Democrats in particular were offended. The Garver “plan” was so ill conceived and communicated Congress responded with a fury which NASA had never even remotely experienced before.

    Fortunately for the country, Congress has provided the leadership which was so sorely lacking in the Garver initiative. There is one simple question for you, Mr. Administrator. Isn’t it time to remove Ms. Garver? Isn’t it time to remove the chief instigator for this mess? Isn’t it time to reset relations with Congress? There is no better single step you can take to send a very clear signal to Congress it’s a new dawn by removing Ms. Garver, and respectfully requesting President Obama do the same with Mr. Kohlenberger and Mr. Shawcross.

    You deserve a Deputy you can trust and count on to ensure NASA and the United States stay at the forefront of Space Exploration.

    Sincerely,
    Concerned for NASA

One Ping

  1. Pingback:

House Science & Technology Committee Approves HR 5781

House & Senate Race To Approve Space Bills