But that “costs too much” argument has already been asked and answered. The federal component of a revived space program would be mere pennies on the dollar. This is where the fed does those few things the fed does best and leverages those advantages to the benefit of private entrepreneurism funded primarily by private capital. There is no need to throw the baby out with the bath water. The moment we stop reaching higher is the very moment we begin to sink. That vast sea of red ink was not caused by the space program. It was caused by the lurch toward a virtually unlimited welfare state. And when you’re in debt, maybe you don’t buy that second car, or maybe you go for a lower mortgage. But you don’t stop eating, you don’t stop working, and you sure don’t stop trying to make things better. Because that last thing is where your recovery eventually comes from.
See, Newt gets the notion of creating a national project to focus our energies on something that will both benefit us and give us common cause. What you’re proposing is rather like dad coming home after getting fired and telling everybody to tighten their belts and stay at home and watch the news about how awful things are. Based on your high school graduation, you have some memory of the adults in your life gong through the depression. Yes, they conserved, everything from string to paper bags. My dad made sardine soup and was proud of it. But they never, not even once, stopped pushing together for the next grand achievement of the country. It was a powerful force for unity among the many immigrant people of that day, and it can work that way again.
And I have a special connection with that. My dad and his three brothers were all very sharp, highly motivated, big picture people. Well, maybe Fred was not so motivated. But the others were superstars in their own domains. Two of them were real rocket scientists, and one of them worked on the Manhattan project in the race to beat the Germans to the Bomb. The children of that brother have remained in the space industry and work on amazing interplanetary propulsion systems as private sector contractors of the highest order. They barely know I exist, but I could not be prouder of them. They are wealth generators. Their ideas are making work and money for thousands downstream of them.
And if we are to recover at all, we need wealth generators, and we need people of high motivation and lofty goals. Sulking about our debt will not relieve our debt. Ceasing to grow and try new things will not relieve our debt. Curling up into the fetal position while our bitter enemies consolidate their power over the far frontiers will not relieve our debt. But fostering a sense of good old-fashioned American pride over great and daring things accomplished, combined with a concerted effort to score those accomplishments primarily through private sector initiative and expansion, now *that’s* a path back to long-term health for our people. You won’t get there without a vision, and a vision’s no good if there isn’t a clear bull’s-eye that captures our aspirations and imagination as a people. Newt’s got an idea what that positive vision of America’s future might be. What’s Rick’s? What’s Ron’s? What’s Mitt’s?
No one is suggesting that we abolish the space program. It is a false choice. It is a matter of priorities and allocating scarce resources. Do we want a base on the moon in ten years or other improvements to our existing technology, particularly in the area of national security? What can we reasonably afford recognizing the many competing demands for resources?
See, Newt gets the notion of creating a national project to focus our energies on something that will both benefit us and give us common cause.
I graduated high school in 1961. I remember JFK's promise to get us to the moon before the end of the decade. There was a tremendous emphasis on math and science. Many students wanted to be engineers. Much of it was framed by the Cold War. The Soviets were the enemy. When Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space in April 1961, there was almost a sense of panic that the Soviets were surpassing us in space and that could be a threat to our security.
We don't need a national project to set up a moon colony in a decade. We are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars and then the costs of maintaining it. Eventually, that will probably happen, but we can't embark on such huge undertakings while we need to cut spending significantly, including on defense. We need to focus our energies on getting our economy growing again and attracting investment to build and expand our infrastructure,. We will be adding 130 million people over the next 40 years. By 2030 one in five Americans will be 65 or older, twice what it is now and there will only be two workers for every retiree, down from the current 3.3, and the 16 workers for every retiree in 1950.
Sulking about our debt will not relieve our debt. Ceasing to grow and try new things will not relieve our debt. Curling up into the fetal position while our bitter enemies consolidate their power over the far frontiers will not relieve our debt.
No, but we must do something about our debt very soon or we will soon be another Greece. We must cut government spending. It will be very painful for everyone and the longer we wait, the more painful and draconian the measures that will need to be taken. The welfare state is collapsing. I doubt many Americans are aware of how dire our situation is or how little time we have left to do something.
We need a President who will tell the American people the truth and lay out a plan to reach our economic goals. It may not be as sexy as going to the moom, but it will require the entire nation to be galvanized and united to make the sacrifices necessary for this country to remain as the leader of the Free World. The British had the US to hand the baton to. We have no one.