Layoff Update

Latest NASA salvo leading to layoffs, Bay Area Citizen
“NASA headquarters began playing hardball this past week in the fight with Congress over its budget, telling major contractors they must curtail work on the Constellation program or they may be in violation of federal spending rules. The surprise move brought angry reaction from various corners of the country as aerospace contractors went public with their fears that possibly 5,000 jobs could be lost before the end of the year – including quite a few in the Clear Lake area.”
City braces for ‘serious’ Constellation job loss as signs of longterm compromise appear, Huntsville Times
“Huntsville is bracing for “serious and significant job loss” after NASA’s decision to cut nearly $1 billion from the Constellation rocket program, Mayor Tommy Battle says. But what could be the basis for a longterm compromise over NASA’s space program began forming this week in the U.S. Senate.”
Our views: End the stalemate, editorial, Florida Today
“On one hand there’s the Obama administration, which keeps pressing its plan to launch astronauts aboard private rockets and kill the Constellation moon project. On the other are some members of Congress from NASA-dependent states, fighting to save Constellation and armed with a law that says it can’t be canceled without congressional approval. Common sense calls for cool-headed negotiations to break the impasse, but that’s too much to ask in Washington.”