People care about lack of jobs and $15,000,000,000,000+ in debt, not the lack of a moonbase colony which will be extremely expensive.
This is a space cadet idea at this time.
“I once saw a snail crawling along the edge of a straight razor,...slithering,...that is my dream, that is my nightmare.”
Maybe Newt sees himself in his own Apocalypse Now moment as COL Kurtz, and Romney now sees himself as CAPT Willard on his journey into a Heart of Darkness.
COL Kurtz did all the things he thought was required, against the conventionalism, and had personal success. But the Corporation sent in a remedy.