re: will this survive past 2009
Carter/Mondale and Clinton were definitely no friends of the space program. Bush I tried to push a $500 billion Mars program that was essentially Flags and Footprints and it was rightly shot down (he also put Dan Quayle in charge of it - maybe Bush I wasn't a friend of the space program, either).
I know there is no easy answer, but I hate the fact that something as important to the human species as exploring and colonizing space is left in the hands of people who are primarily trained as lawyers and have little or no interest or knowledge of the field. And it seems most of the public is of the same mindset as well.