Right? Did you even listen to the speech or did you just get cherry-picked soundbytes from the press?
Yes, I listened to it. Or rather, I read it. It was either (literally) lunacy, or was disingenuous. You cannot both promise there will be a moon colony by 2020, and say that it is going to be left up to private industry. Because obviously, private industry may not conclude it is worth the investment. And if we're just talking about letting private industry go to the moon on its own dime, why is that even relevant to a Presidential campaign?
Just for the record (the record, remember that?) Newt said he would like to see the private sector shoulder almost 90% of that burden... with incentives and prizes and tax breaks from the government leading their way...
What it has to do with a presidential campaign, is that the Russians are already well on their way per below... and their are serious military repurcusions of the Russians and Chinese eating up the lunar real estate ahead of America. Read up a little on the subject and then voice an opinion...
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/russia-us-moon-base-nasa-dpgonc-20110119-to-_17194074
Russia is talking with the US and Europe on plans to create a manned research base on the moon, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Roscosmos is discussing the possibilities for a permanent moon base with officials from NASA and the European Space Agency, the agency’s chief, Vladimir Popovkin said.
“We don’t want man to just step on the moon,” Popovkin told Vesti FM radio station, according to the Ria Novosti news agency. “Today, we know enough about it, we know that there is water in its polar areas ... we are now discussing how to begin [the moon’s] exploration with NASA and the European Space Agency.”
He said the plan was either to set up a base on the moon or launch a station to orbit around it.
Russia also is planning to send two unmanned mission to the moon by 2020, Popovkin said.”
China moonbase 2002:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/5/22/181737.shtml
I do not think that Steve Jobs received massive amounts of money from the government. That is just the first example I can think of.