With the $15 trillion debt, adding the Moon as the 51st state does not appeal to me

No thanks Newt Gingrich. Although Katrina Trinko at NRO’s The Corner thinks adding the Moon as state number 51 is a whimsical idea, there is no way I think we should plan for a permanent moon base within nine years.

I love space. I think it’s totally cool. But with the present condition of our government’s bureaucracy and the fact that our populous is so dependent on entitlements, we must concentrate on changing our culture.

I think Newt Gingrich understands how hard it is to change a culture, but changing the culture in a few years may be an idea even more grandiose than a permanent base on the Moon in nine years.

Buzzfeed notes

Gingrich, a long-time proponent of spaceflight and public zoos, added, “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.”

AP at Hot Air notes…

My issue with Gingrich isn’t that the goal is unworthy — Ace does a nice job explaining the national-greatness appeal of big space programs to conservatives — but that message discipline on spending is desperately needed if the GOP is going to convince voters that our fiscal crisis is as dire as it is. How do you tell seniors that we need to start cutting Medicare if you’re busy telling space contractors to get cracking on moon igloos or whatever?

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

9 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on January 25, 2012 at 10:20 pm

    It won’t matter much: the Chinese plan to be there soon, using the money we are paying them as interest on the money we have to borrow from them to buy their products.? Thanks to ?bama, we can’t even get into orbit by ourselves anymore; we have to buy tickets for rides from the Russians.



  2. sammy22 on January 25, 2012 at 10:33 pm

    I think it’s time for the private sector to get into a lunar program. After all Branson is planning to send people to space for a fee in the not too distant future.



    • Lynn on January 27, 2012 at 3:57 pm

      Sammy, I absolutely agree with you. Go Capitalism, Go Private Sector, thank you Sammy



  3. Fish on January 26, 2012 at 9:39 am

    Shouldn’t it be the 58th state? I’m sure you just misspoke.



  4. stinkfoot on January 26, 2012 at 9:58 am

    I think an exploratory committee composed of both houses of congress should be dispatched there immediately.? Once there they can debate a bill to potentially fund their return trip.



    • chelly1222 on January 26, 2012 at 3:21 pm

      Love it! Stinkfoot 2012!!!



  5. ricbee on January 26, 2012 at 9:51 pm

    Newt is already spent & reduced to “feel good statements”.



  6. JBS on January 27, 2012 at 10:55 am

    Newt, please shut up! Kennedy waited until after he was elected to announce a space program. That was a response to Sputnik. It forced the USSR to spend money they didn’t have. Kinda like the U.S. situation now.
    Newt is truly a loose cannon. He shoots from the lip and you can never predict what he is going to say! Ultimately, Newt is proposing more government spending. (Been there, done that!) We need a president who will concentrate on reducing the national debt .
    I am really getting tired of holding my nose with the Romney / Gingrich offering. Are they really the best candidates the GOP can offer to the electorate?
    ?



    • Lynn on January 27, 2012 at 3:59 pm

      Apparently so right now. Unless the GOP pulls a stunner and puts someone up at the very last minute before the MSM eats them up.



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