Earth Observation

I just noticed something. Democratic administrations talk about Earth
Observation and focus NASA on unmanned space objectives. When
Republicans are in, the Earth Observation systems get seriously
downgraded or canceled and we get expensive (overruns galore) manned
programs that spend money in every congressional district possible.

Why should this be? The parties are not that much different in many
ways though the corrupting influence of big oil seems strongest in the
Republican party which could explain the lack of Earth Observation. Why
would the Republican party favor manned space programs and the
Democrats unmanned?

Mitchell James