Obama Plan to Kill NASA Rockets Will Kill 23,000 Florida Jobs

Outsourcing thousands of top technical jobs to Russia & China as well as destroying U.S. lead in space!

Bye Bye US #1 in Space!

The Obama Administration decision to cancel all further NASA development of new rocket technology including a replacement for the Space Shuttle and a rocket to the moon will also destroy the economy of the Florida Space Coast. In an era when Obama will spend a $trillion in taxpayer money to create a relative handful of jobs, he couldn't spare the few billions to save jobs in Florida and save America's reputation in space.

23,000 now expected to lose jobs after shuttle retirement
BY RICK NEALE
FLORIDA TODAY
February 26, 2010

...Revised projections now show that about 23,000 workers at and around Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs because of the shuttles' retirement and the new proposal to cancel the development of new rockets and spacecraft.

That sum includes 9,000 "direct" space jobs and -- conservatively speaking -- 14,000 "indirect" jobs at hotels, restaurants, retail stores and others that depend on activity at the space center, said Lisa Rice, Brevard Workforce president.

Those 9,000 space jobs include some of the most highly desirable technical jobs. Jobs that will now be filled overseas by our space competitors. The idea that space launching on the scale required by NASA to maintain a manned space program will now be carried out by private sector firms is laughable.

Beyond the direct impact of lost jobs and skills, this decision undermines our national security capability. Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) reports:

Canceling the Constellation program and the Ares rocket will harm U.S. missile defense efforts and our national security. The same kinds of jobs and technology needed to send men to the moon are the same set of skills needed to build defensive missiles. Whether it's lifting man or missiles into space, the skilled work force and solid rocket motors come from the same industrial base. When you cut one, you hurt the other.

Last year, the administration cut our U.S. missile defense system and some jobs were lost. The cancellation of Constellation would essentially wipe out the rest. This would destroy the U.S. industrial base and make us militarily vulnerable to countries like North Korea and Iran.

A report to Congress last year pointed out that delays in the NASA Ares program could have "significant negative impact" on the industrial base for missile production. If delays are "significant" an outright cancellation would be overwhelming. We will lose not just our capabilities for space exploration, but our capability to protect our homeland. Our nation will be less secure.

Obama's decision accomplishes two longterm goals of left wing radicals: first, to weaken if not outright destroy the military industrial complex which has kept us safe for decades and second, to reassign NASA to support the political agenda of the global warming crowd.

In essence, Obama is politicizing NASA while at the same time destroying our ability to compete in space thus weakening national security.

Where is the vision to inspire future generations?