{"id":350912,"date":"2026-04-12T01:31:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T06:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/bill-maher-asked-why-were-going-to-the-moon-instead-of-fixing-the-sht-show-on-earth-one-launch-cost-more-than-the-entire-annual-budget-for-veteran-homelessness"},"modified":"2026-04-12T01:32:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T06:32:00","slug":"bill-maher-asked-why-were-going-to-the-moon-instead-of-fixing-the-sht-show-on-earth-one-launch-cost-more-than-the-entire-annual-budget-for-veteran-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/bill-maher-asked-why-were-going-to-the-moon-instead-of-fixing-the-sht-show-on-earth-one-launch-cost-more-than-the-entire-annual-budget-for-veteran-homelessness","title":{"rendered":"Invoice Maher Requested Why We’re Going to the Moon As a substitute of Fixing ‘the Sh*t Present on Earth.’ One Launch Price Extra Than the Complete Annual Finances for Veteran Homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

On Friday afternoon, Bill Maher<\/strong><\/a> stood in front of his Real Time<\/em> audience and noted it was four o\u2019clock Pacific time \u2014 about an hour from the Artemis II splashdown. Then he dismissed the entire mission. Roughly an hour later, the capsule punched through Earth\u2019s atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour, its heat shield absorbing temperatures hotter than lava, before splashing down in the Pacific off San Diego.<\/p>\n

Four astronauts \u2014 Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen \u2014 had just completed a 10-day trip around the moon, traveling farther from Earth than any humans in history.<\/p>\n

Maher missed the landing. He was busy calling the moon a rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s Fix the Sh*t Show Here on Earth\u201d<\/h2>\n
\n

Earlier this week, Trump threatened to wipe out Iran\u2019s \u201cwhole civilization.\u201d He said: I\u2019m not bluffing. Did you see what I did to Atlantic City? pic.twitter.com\/4eGoM1JhQx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bill Maher (@billmaher) April 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

During his monologue, Maher told his audience he didn\u2019t understand the excitement. Everywhere he went, people asked if he\u2019d seen the photos. He\u2019d seen Earth before. People kept telling him the moon was a stepping stone to Mars, and he didn\u2019t want to go there either. Nothing out there except other rocks.<\/p>\n

Panelist Paul Rieckhoff \u2014 a veteran and founder of Independent Veterans of America who has spent years advocating for troops coming home to broken systems \u2014 pushed back. He said Artemis II inspired hope. Maher wasn\u2019t moved. Ten more miles, he said. We\u2019ve been to the moon before.<\/p>\n

What One Launch Costs<\/h2>\n

\"America\"<\/p>\n

Here is what it costs to send four people around the moon and bring them back: $4.1 billion. That is the per-launch price of NASA\u2019s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, according to a NASA Inspector General audit. The White House\u2019s own 2026 budget proposal called the SLS \u201cgrossly expensive\u201d and noted it had exceeded its original budget by 140 percent.<\/p>\n

Here is what else $4.1 billion could do.<\/p>\n

The Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 entire annual budget for homeless veteran programs is $3.2 billion. That covers outreach, shelter, and supportive housing for the more than 32,000 veterans who are homeless on any given night in America. One Artemis launch exceeds that budget by nearly a billion dollars.<\/p>\n

The Flint water crisis \u2014 a disaster that poisoned roughly 100,000 residents, many of them children \u2014 required an estimated $1.5 billion to repair the city\u2019s water infrastructure. One launch could have fixed Flint\u2019s pipes with $2.6 billion to spare.<\/p>\n

At a national average of $300,000 per unit, one launch could fund the construction of more than 13,000 affordable homes.<\/p>\n

What the Whole Program Costs<\/h2>\n

\"Congress\"\"Flint\"<\/p>\n

Zoom out, and the math gets louder.<\/p>\n

Total spending on the Artemis program<\/a> has exceeded $93 billion through 2025, according to a NASA Inspector General estimate. Analysts project it will surpass $100 billion as additional missions proceed.<\/p>\n

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has estimated it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the United States. Less than a quarter of what has already been spent getting back to the moon\u2019s neighborhood.<\/p>\n

An additional $9.6 billion would provide housing placements to every household currently staying in a homeless shelter in America, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. That is roughly the cost of two Artemis launches.<\/p>\n

The $15 billion the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside for lead pipe replacement nationwide \u2014 covering 9 million lead service lines \u2014 expires in 2026. The Trump administration has not committed to upholding the EPA rule that requires those pipes to be replaced within a decade.<\/p>\n

The Question Washington Is Already Fighting Over<\/h2>\n

Maher may not realize it, but he is asking the same question dividing Congress.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s proposed 2027 budget would slash NASA funding by roughly 25 percent. Congress rejected nearly identical cuts for the current budget cycle, protecting Artemis with bipartisan support. The political argument rests heavily on competition with China, which has announced plans for a permanent lunar base by 2030.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the same budget proposes cuts to the domestic programs that serve the people Maher says should come first.<\/p>\n

Rieckhoff pushed back on Maher\u2019s cynicism Friday night. But Rieckhoff has also spent his career arguing that the government isn\u2019t doing enough for veterans who come home to find the systems waiting for them are broken. The VA\u2019s homeless programs budget \u2014 the one that falls short of a single Artemis launch \u2014 is the system those veterans rely on.<\/p>\n

Nobody on the panel mentioned that number. But it was sitting right there between them.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n