I agree. Why give MORE authority to NASA, a problem plagued agency that consistently has underperformed? This runs counter to good business management. Bad move Bush. Another gripe I have is NEO research. This should NOT be the purvey of NASA, it's clearly a DOD charter activity. Politically, operationally and funding wise we'd be better off if this happened. Just look at the productive results that DOD got in past space activities...atmospheric compensating mirror technology, DC-X big results small bucks and the Pathfinder Lunar mapping mission.

Let NASA do basic space research, prove new technologies like DS-1, VASIMR, solar sails and do scientific robotic missions.