[laughs] There are benefits to living in a non-democracy! Once the people in charge figure out what they think is the right thing to do, they can Just Do It.
What did we get from our space program? How about the ability to tell which brand of watch is on bin Laden's wrist from orbit? The military "payback" is obvious. And, once someone establishes a serious presence in orbit, say at L5, the real economic returns may become, so to speak, astronomical -- don't forget, it costs almost nothing to ship goods down to Earth... (If resources could be gathered, say, from the Moon or from passing asteroids, rather than shipped up from Earthside...)
Mark W.
What goods are you expecting?