Space? Spending, and Where the Profits Are

I was reading the other day about how they used a toothbrush to clean the threads for a bolt on the Space Station. Then I saw the comments section below it, bashing space spending.

It's weird, how many people bash spending on space, when we have so many things today that were only invented because of space. People wonder where all the money goes: it goes to making things that work. Innovations and inventions, many of which eventually become a part of our daily lives. Let's see if you've ever used one of these items:

Cordless tools.
Ear thermometer.
"Invisible Braces" - Even Tom Cruise wore those!
Enriched Baby Foods.
Satellite TV Dishes - invented by NASA.
Sneaker Insoles - copied from a NASA product to protect astronauts during blastoff.
Recycled Pavement.
Medical Imaging.
Fire Fighter Equipment – Fire fighters wear suits made of fire resistant fabric developed for use in space suits.
Better Pacemakers.
Smoke Detector – First used in the Earth orbiting space station called Skylab to help detect toxic vapors.
Scratch resistant lenses.
Memory Foam.
Long-Distance Telecommunications.
Safety Grooving - These indentions in the concrete divert excess water from the surface to reduce the amount of water between tires and the runway or road. This increases the friction between wheels and concrete, improving vehicle safety.
Water Filters - such as Brita, etc.

And there are many, many more devices in everyday use, that we never even think about as having to do with space... even though they only exist because of space. If you were to add up all of the benefits of these items, and how much money they've made in the private sector... from the sales price on the shelf, through all the many people who were paid to help produce the item... wouldn't it easily add up to more than space flight has cost this country, in total?

What I'm trying to say, here, is that space flight is a Profitable enterprise. Not necessarily for the Government that runs it, but for the private enterprises of the country that has it.  That makes it a little sad that we, in the USA, no longer have direct access to space flight, now that our own Space Program has been reduced to an empty shell.  I suppose the majority of profitable innovations will go to the countries that still have their space programs.