$700B Goes a Long Way in Space—and on Earth

First look at proposed 2011 budget shows sharp break between haves and have-nots

(NEWSER) - President Obama delivered his proposed 2011 budget to Congress today, and the Washington Post drills down to find the winners and losers. Winners first:

• K-12 education: The Department of Education's budget will increase by 6%, or $3 billion.
• Research: The proposal pumps up the Energy Department's budget 7%, or $2 billion, and the National Science Foundation's budget climbs 8%.
• The military: The Defense Department's budget rises 3.4%, and that's not counting spending on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Lays wreath at Tomb of the Unknowns

(AP) - President Barack Obama paid tribute today to the men and women who have died defending America, saying the country must strive "to be a nation worthy of your sacrifice." He said the war in Iraq has ended after nine years and is "winding down" in Afghanistan. But he conceded that the pain of war lingers for the families of those lost in battle, noting mourners can be seen at Arlington National Cemetery daily, not just on Memorial Day. More»

Donations from mortally wounded troops have helped 140

(NEWSER) - Since 2006, organ donations from mortally wounded US troops have saved around 140 European lives, reports USA Today . The families of 36 American servicemembers who were declared brain dead from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan agreed to donate their hearts, kidneys, lungs, livers, and pancreases to patients in Europe. It's the result of military protocol: Wounded troops wind up at an Army medical center in Germany, and those who are brain dead are kept alive on a ventilator to give their families in the US time to fly in for a final goodbye. More»

Bill Keller offers lessons from Iraq

(NEWSER) - As the drum-beating grows louder on Iran and Syria, Bill Keller looks back on Iraq and beyond. To avoid a debacle, there are five questions we should ask ourselves before entering a war, he writes in the New York Times :

1. "How is this our fight?" Are American interests directly involved, as in Afghanistan after 9/11? Are we supporting an ally? Or are we simply "promoting freedom"?
2. "At what cost?" While Libya was easily targeted at low risk to American troops, an attack on Syria would mean, in one military expert's view, "we'd be killing a lot more people." Then there's the cost of stretching troops and the financial implications of war.

And limited lawmakers' ability to address downturn: Study

(NEWSER) - In the short term, wars might help the US economy—but the brief uplift is just a bubble, according to a report. In the long run, wars are a serious drag on the country's finances, the Institute for Economics and Peace finds after studying all major American wars since World War II. Whether essential or not, the wars raise debt and inflation and cut consumption and investment, the report notes, according to the Huffington Post . More»