The retirement of the space shuttle and underfunding of President George W. Bush’s call to go to the “moon, Mars and beyond” are causing NASA to re-evaluate its mission, with a new administration now making budgetary decisions. The Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee met at the Freeman Branch Library in Clear Lake this past weekend, hoping to generate optimism that will turn into political willpower to save and expand the space program. Ian Overton is with the LaRouche Youth Movement.
“NASA is an extremely important part of the U.S. economy, yet it’s budget has been cut consistently since Nixon. And if you look at what we got through the Apollo program, I mean, it wasn’t just a flag on the moon. It was all kinds of technologies and progress in many fields that have created many jobs and careers. We want to expand what NASA does.”
Overton says the LaRouche Youth Movement has been hosting a series of panel discussions and workshops, to inspire young adults with American intellectual tradition.
“The current economic policy of the United States is one of bailout and free trade globalization. And that is an antithesis to actually making these kinds of breakthroughs and creating the jobs that are going to turn the economy around. Doesn’t matter what party you’re with—they’re not doing the right thing. We need to stop bailing out Wall Street and start putting people back to work.”
The space program accounts for almost 17,000 jobs locally, according to Bay Area Houston. When the economic multiplier effect of these jobs is considered, the total impact on Houston and Texas exceeds more than 26,000 employees with personal incomes of more than $2.5 billion, and total spending exceeds $3.5 billion.
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