The Politics of Uphill Battles

Texas’ NASA fight soars even as state’s clout fades, Houston Chronicle
“And although thousands of Houston-area jobs are at stake, Texans in 2008 did nothing to help usher Barack Obama into the White House. Furthermore, history shows previous lobbying efforts to salvage massive NASA projects have never succeeded. “There’s not a single case where a major cancellation in the space program has been overturned by external lobbying,” says space historian John Logsdon, former director of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute. “Congress defers to presidents on space because you can’t run a space program from Capitol Hill.”
Preserving space jobs big focus for Shelby, Huntsville Times
“Shelby has accused the Obama administration of beginning “the death march for NASA” and has told Bolden he is “out of step with Congress.” Shelby described last Thursday’s meeting with Bolden as “to the point.” “I believe some of us have fundamental disagreements on how the administration wants to go,” Shelby said. Shelby has vowed to fight the changes, he said.”