Gingrich Thinks Romney's Space Policy Is Not Robust Enough
Gingrich criticizes Romney-Ryan space plan, NBC
“One-time presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who promised during the GOP primary to create a U.S. moon colony if elected, criticized Mitt Romney’s plan for space exploration as not being “robust” enough. “The Romney plan for space starts to move in the right direction but could be much more robust,” the former House speaker told NBC News a day after the Republican presidential nominee unveiled his “Securing U.S. Leadership in Space” plan. “We could move into space much, much faster than we are. Romney is better than [President] Obama on space but could be bolder and more visionary.”
Gingrich & Walker: Obama’s brave reboot for NASA, Washington Times (2010)
“Despite the shrieks you might have heard from a few special interests, the Obama administration’s budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration deserves strong approval from Republicans. The 2011 spending plan for the space agency does what is obvious to anyone who cares about man’s future in space and what presidential commissions have been recommending for nearly a decade.”
Other posts on Newt Gingrich
CD,
It’s a mystery to me as to what could make you think that Romney will listen and take heed. He never has before.
Steve
It amazes me that the party who derides big government programs and centers on supporting private industry cannot apply that to what is happening in the space industry…
Politics is all about money for all sides. And they all use smoke and mirrors to flimflam their gullible base into thinking “its in their advantage”.
The right uses fear. The left uses “feelings”.
I use a four function calculator. Works better.
Don’t beleive anything/anyone else.
“We know he could manage a business sucessfully and that is no small matter as it is ruled be what works and what does not.”
Do you know what companies like Bain Capital do? Leveraged equity buyouts. They borrow (so they don’t risk their own money) enough to buy controlling interests in companies whose stock price is lower than their asset-value, or which have a high cash turnover. A hostile takeover. They replace the board, appoint themselves managers, then they force the target-company to take on additional debt to pay off Bain’s loans for the buyout. [Let me emphasise that, they pass the debt from buying the company onto the company they bought.] They additionally charge the target-company millions in “management fees”. They sack half the workforce to temporarily boost the share price, then sell it to the next sucker.
If the company succeeds, it is in spite of, not because of, groups like Bain. And if they fail, Bain still makes a fortune in “management fees” while stripping the asset-value of the company.
These are not good people. And their way of doing business is not something you want in a President. Rick Perry had it right when he contemptuously called Romney a “Vulture Capitalist”.
One of the reasons they sack the work force is to help pay off the company’s loans.
And oh yeah, those managment fees they charge the company? Romney didn’t pay income tax on it, those fees are considered part of the investment return to Bain Capital and therefore Romney only paid long term capital gains on them and not income tax! Sweet, huh?
That description of private equity firms sounds like something that come out of a Marxist handbook describing capitalism. You can’t possibly believe that tribe? But if you’re so willing to publicly display your ignorance, I guess you do believe it.
Private equity firms usually look for companies that are in distress (about to wink out) and see if there is some piece(s) that have value. Examples, Corel software and Chrysler.
Ask the employees of Staples and Baskin-Robbins and the steel-mill Bain invested 100 million in (only to have the unions kill off any hope of being competitive). The Wall Street Journal had a great report on Bain’s history.
Why does CalPERS and a list of liberally managed public investment funds invest in Bain?Before commenting, trying reading something.
How about reading the deals that PE firms put together? Does that count as reading something? With 20 years in the financial industry, I know how LBO firms operate. Looting is a polite way of describing it.
While living in Houston, TX, my wife worked for a PE firm that specialized in oil & gas. Her experience is at complete odds with cartoon characterization of PE firms. Your experience – whatever that might be – is not the defining experience for all.
BTW, you evidently need to contact the ethical advisory board for CalPERS and others with your insider-information/complaints.
Romney is done, the rest of the republicans are looking to 2016.
LOL – Epic post – keep thinking that… PLEASE!
I saw Romney on sixty minutes. a close up This will sound silly but I was looking at his eyes. He looked like a man that was training his eyes to not look like a lier. You know the old eyes move up and left if you are telling a whopper.
I know you can’t trust any of them But?
“Did you get that from Rolling Stone Magazine?”
I assume you are referring to something specific?
“Romney had donated millions… MILLIONS to charity.”
Odd example. Romney created a trust which is registered as a charity, allowing him to claim a tax deduction for any money he puts into the trust. In order to maintain its tax-free status, the trust must donate a minimum amount (from memory, 10%) to other registered charities. Romney’s charity donates the absolute minimum required to maintain its tax-free status.
The part of his income that he “donates” to his trust is the highest taxable income he has (28%). Therefore if he “donates” $4m tax-free, the trust donates 10%, $400,000, to other charities such as his church, then Romney saves up to $720,000 in taxes.
(To be considered a member in good standing (a “saint”) in his church, they expect poorer members to tithe 10% of their income, and rich members to donate 20%. Romney donates less than half of the minimum required tithe. So he even cheats at his own religion.)
[edit: Forgot to comment on the last part:
Cernan “we have become completely dependent on the Russians to continue human exploration.”
Did Cernan make similar criticism back when Bush actually cancelled the shuttle program before a replacement was ready, and put the US in that position? Has he ever criticised Bush for doing so, even now? If not, don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, his criticism of a Democrat President is just… political.]
It will be re-elected if alternative is even worse. Obama did not much for whatever reason, so return back power to those that put USA in the mess in first place? Yeeeeah, riiiight.
I watched the night launch of Gene Cernan’s Saturn V from my South Florida front yard, and soaked up every minute of the subsequent mission right through to splashdown. He’s always been a hero of mine – the quintessential Apollo explorer. But his more recent attempts to dabble in policy and politics have been embarrassing, frankly.
Irconically it’s the republican house that has been behind the call for spending cuts, Paul Ryan in particular, at a time when we need help from the government on the fiscal side to get people back to work and kick the economy into gear. That said we are much better off than Europe. I agree Obama’s inablity to get Congress to work with him on the economy is also to blame. I haven’t heard anyone in Washington that seems to understand how the economy works.
Donating money to the church that then takes that money and buys a shopping mall,
that is exactly what a church is supposed to do right? help the poor and needy by buying up shopping malls?
Paul watch moyers and company from this weekend with Trever Potter.
Its about C4s and and campaign funds.
I know your not from here but every American should write his/her congress/senator to get the discloser bill pasted.
Without a free america for ALL the people.
we are screwed
We american must stop our crooked public servants!!!!!!!!!!!
@google-bfce3fc9139dee8f038ffe042797ddec
http://billmoyers.com/serie…
MOST IMPORTANT AMERICA!!!!!!!
Sir we do not need a spaceship or program that put astronants in Leo for more than the cost of a russian ride or a dragon. You want to inspire me. Make space CHEAPER
Is ISS able to provided 95 percent of their food yet?
Turn on the gravity machine so we can work up there forever.
I want MAN off this rock
Not doing explorer stunts first.
first things first.
We spent 40 years in leo NOT learning how to do LEO so we can go beyond.
We have spent 40 years in leo largely wasting money and time.
I trust Elon
not Romney
“Sadly many valuable NASA workers are now included in those numbers.”
Almost all of the NASA budget is used to pay people. The NASA budget has been remarkably stable. Ergo, NASA hasn’t contributed to the unemployment percentage. NASA is employing just about as many people as it always has. Oh, but you’re saying that the unemployed shuttle workers, whose skills were simply not needed for modern space exploration, and who hung around in the face of an expiring program, were the “valuable” ones, eh?
Many NASA workers are now part of the 8%, and just as many NASA workers are now part of the 92%. In my book, it all evens out.
It may be the economy stupid, but it’s not about NASA.
Today I “converted” a Romney voter to vote for Obama in your honor. I’ve known him for 40 years – worked on Mercury. He says he’ll get ten more next week.
Perhaps this is the way to change from the outside?
add:
My goal is taking 1,000 Brevard county voters from Romney column and putting them in Obama’s column. Lotta ex NASA, ex military retirees.
I’ve worked with Bain Capital. They are ruthlessly efficient at extracting net present value out of failed concerns. However, this comes at the cost of future value (which they discard), and of the operating agreements and strategic value of partnerships.
Yes they make money. But at a cost. This works as long as you have illiquid / “no cash flow” firms to consume.
Is this a model of the American business ideal?
Yeah I get you don’t like the scary black guy that has all the power.
Me, I’m more scared of another dumbo president who brings in a bunch of crony’s to do his job for him, with unspoken, unreasonable, undisclosed policies that screw things up worse for four years.
Because they are scared by the black guy. Because he’s smart.
And because I can”t stand “bad mouthing” as a stand in for reasoned argument.