Lighter materials has no direct relation to the space program,
Incorrect. Making things that are stronger and lighter allow for a higher load capacity (given the same gross weights). Lighter also means cheaper to fly since less weight is being lifted.
This benefit is lost to some extent though since launch vehicles have a long development and are usually in service for a while, so new tech has to be incorporated into future vehicles. This does benefit the payloads they carry though in allowing them to carry more stuff for the same space restrictions.
spy satellites don't help me,
They do help the government though, which in turns helps protect you. The cold war showed how spy satellites can be used effectively, and without them we might not have had a "cold" war.
Besides this, a lot of satellites are used for civilian use. For example google maps satellite view.
You might not directly use it, but GPS is used by many things and helps many people. It allows for guided munitions that are much more accurate than dumb boms, and don't require LOS like laser does or tv type guided munitions. Less people dying is a good thing (if not ideal since people are still dying). GPS is also used to watch seismic sites like Mount St Helens, which could provide a warning to people living there of an impending eruption. GPS has helped us map out our planet in ways it never was able to before (in addition to other satellites). GPS has given ships the ability to easily determine position which was previously not as easily done ( source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navigation ). Also, satellites can help prevent disasters like the titanic from happening again, and help keep a ship from taking a course which runs into weather events like hurricanes. GPS also is used by many for things like OnStar.
99% of civilian communications are land based,
Maybe, but satellite communcations are very important. Without them ships at sea would have no way to communicate. Without them people in remote areas of the world would be unable to contact the outside world.
telescopes don't give us anything
Maybe nothing directly, but they do help our understanding of our universe. They allow us to learn things like super massive black holes are at the center of almost all galaxies. That might not help any person directly to know that, but it allows us as a species to become more evolved and advanced. It builds a foundation for future generations to build off of.
and they don't need to be in space,
This is absolute crap if you know anything about optics. A telescope on earth will never be able to see as clearly as a telescope in space.
etc. You can argue practicality of GPS, but can't say that the trillions spent throwing junk in space is worth GPS.
GPS is one example of useful tech that was due to space programs.
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/pdf/Shuttle_spinoffs.pdf
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2009/pdf/spinoff2009.pdf <--over 100 pages of inventions/products/tech that came from NASA's space programs.
Space program is not only unnecessary but most of what is done with it doesn't give us any benefit.
Check prior links.
We have a failing global economy and the space program is a luxury that we can cut without consequence.
As previously mentioned, NASAs budget is .032% of the DoD's budget for 2010, and is only 1/8 of 1% of our countries GDP. I don't know about you, but I think that's a worth while investment.
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