Daily Nonstop Service JFK-Mars on Virgin Galactic

I came across this article about new rocket technology that could help get humans to Mars faster. In the article it mentions that the future of space exploration might rest in the hands of the private-sector, making me think about the role of privatization in American government. Heralded by the Right as an effective means to combat the inefficiencies of bureaucracy, privatization makes the Left scream in the opposite direction for fear of uncertainty and risk associated with market-based activities. Despite this fundamental divide, Obama has seemingly crossed party lines to promote the prospects of privatization, a concept that sometimes just makes sense.  In space, Obama feels that NASA is better suited to serve as a contract-awarding agency instead of an in-house R&D entity.  Not that this is anything revolutionary- it’s largely the Defense Department model of utilizing military contractors to develop new technologies (let’s discuss that program’s efficacy later). However, Obama has also utilized the private sector in his far-reaching healthcare law, affectionately dubbed Obamacare. True, the law expands the number of those eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, but for the rest of the US population, the system relies on health insurance companies to provide coverage to individuals. Instead of developing a new administration to provide coverage and treatment for all, the law uses existing structures to expand coverage to most. Now I’m not urging you to write your congressman to demand a European model of state healthcare administration, but instead point out that the private sector, when carefully watched, can work.