Increase the funding for NASA by cutting a sliver of the defense budget:
According the the defense budget breakdown for 2012 the total expenditure is between $1.030–$1.415 trillion. This figure is more than double the budget NASA has been budgeted since it's creation. Even after adjusting for inflation it's more than $350 - $650 billion dollars more.
Raise the budget for NASA per year to twice what it is now, in other words raise it to 1% of the budget instead of .5%. Not only does this barely change the defense budget and it's ~1/3 of our total budget, but it results in huge benefits to our education, economy, and our world.
A penny on the dollar is a cheap price for the universe.