[JumpCrisscross]

> paying that much to maintain the national capability to make something like the shuttle and SRBs feels reasonable

It’s reasonable to pay something. I’m unconvinced $41bn is the correct amount.

> Kind of similar to farm subsidies and the strategic implications there

There aren’t many. Countries in which farmers aren’t swing voters don’t have farm subsidies. I’ve been looking into buying some farmland and just collecting CRP on it, for example.

[ericd]

Yeah, there should've been a "more" in front of "reasonable". There are probably other ways to maintain knowledge of how to make SRBs.