“Some of the most influential leaders of the space community are quietly working to offer the next U.S. president an alternative to President Bush’s “vision for space exploration”—one that would delete a lunar base and move instead toward manned missions to asteroids along with a renewed emphasis on Earth environmental spacecraft.”
I read that the moon base was logistically a better solution to future manned flights to MArs, etc because the cost of launching from the moon would be far cheaper. So, invest up front to save money down the line.
That's assuming you can go ahead and melt the moon rocks there to make your fuel - if you have to bring your fuel with you, going straight to Mars is cheaper than detouring to the moon, because Mars has an atmosphere which can substitute for fuel in slowing the spacecraft.
The H3 that permiates the dirt on the moon is estimated to be worth 2-3 billion dollars per ton for it's energy.
That's only if they get fusion to work properly, which has been "20 years away" for the past 40 years.