kfl%mx.lcs.mit.edu@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU.UUCP (08/18/86)
From: Lynn Gazis <SAPPHO@SRI-NIC.ARPA>
Addition to my previous message: people would also be able to make
voluntary donations to any category, in the same way that they now
can make voluntary donations to reduce the national debt.
Probably more people would make such donations than now donate to
reduce the national debt, since it would be going toward the
things they believed in, rather than subsidizing all government
spending, including what they don't approve of.
People already can. A few years ago there was the 'Viking fund', a
voluntary fund to pay for continued operation of the Viking landers on
Mars, which were still operating but which were going to be shut down
because there was no money left to pay for their continued operation.
The fund was a success, and the probes were operated until they
finally wore out.
A few years earlier, the instrument packages left on the Moon by
the Apollo astronauts had been shut down due to lack of funds, even
though they were still sending back useful data.
...Keith
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