I have a better idea... lets cut out NASA all toegther...
I sure hope you're kidding. (but I'm sure you're not)
NASA is more than space exploration. Actually extraterrestrial missions are a small percentage of NASA's annual budget, it is just the most visible.
The computer you type that post on-directly tied to the Apollo program.
The cell phone you use to talk- communications equipment developed to control satelites and get data back from space.
Safer air travel- tested daily at the NASA facility in Cleveland and improved at NASA Ames in Sunnyvale CA.
Better synthetic materials, including nylon and other clothing textiles- again developed for use in the space program, among other uses.
Safer drinking water, produced cheaper and recyclable-you get the idea.
I'd rather see welfare go away before NASA.
I'm almost ashamed to admit, after reading the NASA page on the President's visit, that I actually agree with him on that point. We have allowed ourselves to fall behind and let the one governmen agency that is CHARTERED to improve our quality of life by advancing the science and exploration of our planet and beyond to atrophe to a shell of it's former self. We have lost sight of President Kennedy's vision of exploration "Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce." "We need men who can dream of things that never were."