Got a spare $500 Million Lying Around?

The NASA Discovery Mission was again delayed today as a result of yet another "glitch". So I suppose the costs for this adventure will continue to rise as they run through the "punch list" to determine why a sensor isn't behaving right.
I can think of about 1,000 better uses of half a billion than keeping this program alive. For starters, let's use the money to better secure our borders...or maybe pay our Military a bonus if they are handling summer duty in Iraq...or as a College Fund for families who lost their fathers or mothers in Iraq.
The classic argument for keeping the NASA program alive is that the private sector and society in general have benefited so much from the ancillary discoveries made by shuttle missions over the years.......excuse me, at 1/2 a Billion a pop I would argue that we could have put some pretty hefty government incentives out there for the private sector to come up with tiles that can withstand enormous heat...or whatever the "next great thing" NASA space shuttles have discovered. I believe this is a colossal waste of our taxpayers money and hope the next administration agrees with me.