"Saturn V might have worked, but justifying costs of one program with historic waste of another is still an invalid argument in the context of cost of success."

"Saturn V might have worked, but justifying costs of one program with historic waste of another is still an invalid argument in the context of cost of success." Did you read your comment? You can't justify your argument by bringing up "Amtrak" (not sure what an Amtrak is) a supposed failing enterprise, as much as I can bring up the Saturn V and use it to support my point. Again there is absolutely nothing to back up what you said. The issue of wasted costs comes down to management and little else. Small business and large businesses both can waste money or apply capital in smart ways. You also didn't specify what a large amount of money is, is Apple more wasteful than Boeing because of the disparity of income? The amount that NASA gets in funding is quite small and they do a lot with it. SpaceX or Virgin Galatic aren't actively commanding multiple missions within and outside of our solar system. Your argument is so general and naive. Have you ever worked in industry?