Fellow Americans,
While some Americans want to go to the moon or Mars, I do wonder about more pressing issues, such as save the planet from destruction. By now people know an object about six miles in diameter might have collided and caused the last great mass extinction, ending three ages of dinosaurs. And people are now realizing that massive solar flare can destroy modern electronics, meaning America would lose everything newer than the vacuum tube.
There is a third threat, and that is life itself. I believe the most likely biological threat is not intelligent life; instead, merely a combination of compounds that can alter a virus or simple life form. All would take to change a virus might be a small amount of amino or nucleic acids, and already exobiologists are looking for organic compounds throughout the solar system.
I do wonder what would happen if we waste valuable resources sending a handful of people to Mars, only to suffer mass extinction because we were not prepared for an imminent collision with comet or asteroid, solar flare, or lifelike comet.