It's also a tough sell since it seems like science fiction whereas roads, schools, medicare, social security, etc are current tangible needs that people underst

It's also a tough sell since it seems like science fiction whereas roads, schools, medicare, social security, etc are current tangible needs that people understand. I'd venture to say at least 50% of the American population believes you can get sick from being outside without a jacket and so trying to explain to them why you spent most of the budget on fusion would just make people's heads explode.