Economics of Space Travel and Voting

First, Electronic Voting. Its a good idea, but so far has been poorly implemented and controlled. Because of this, there is a push for a paper trail. To me, this does not solve the problem, nor does it benefit anyone in any way. If the machines are "hacked" as the fear is, it would be ridiculously easy to hack the printing routines, probably even more so than it would be to hack the actual recording of the vote. It also does nothing to get rid of the paper ballots. If you're required to generate a print out of the vote anyway, why change the system? It would cost less to simply continue using paper ballots, and invest in better punching machines.

Electronic Voting has also not been controlled properly. Too many states have different requirements, and every company does things slightly differently. You want strict control on how the systems operate? Then a commission needs to be established, heck, give control of the systems to the Nevada Gaming Commission, and I assure you they will be the most secure systems known. Good slot machines are amazingly secure. Why? A broken machine might cost the casino quite a bit of money, either through paying out more than it takes in, or through not paying out enough, and causing the casino to be fined. Its crazy that gambling has stricter controls than voting, especially when they are essentially the same thing.

Next, Why does space exploration cost so much? Because it has not been privatized. If private corporations were allowed to develop and promote space flight/tourism, costs would be much lower. What happens when you allow private companies to attempt this? You get projects like this for the Xprize. My only fear is that when a tragic accident occurs (and they will, anyone that says different is a fool) that the government will step in and throw down crazy regulations.