I especially like the part where he says that anyone questioning these unrealistic/fantasy promises must be part of the ‘establishment’ . Well here goes anyway:
What are we talking about? $100B ? $500B? $1T ? Newt probably isn't aware of this given his work history but THE PRIVATE SECTOR WORKS ON MAKING A PROFIT! I know sometimes Newt likes to demonize profits, only occasionally when convenient, but that is how it works.
My Moon colony joke goes : Newt will open up a senior citizen center on the moon so the government can save medicare money on walkers and wheelchairs, due to the lower gravity there. Call it Moon dreams plus medicare reform all in one.
I will volunteer for Newt's moon colony. We can float around and even eat kosher food. LOL
Newt has not “demonized profits,” and in fact if you had actually read his proposal, you would know that there’s plenty of profit in it for private companies. The moon will not only eventually provide a station for further space exploration, but has a lot of mineral wealth of its own, particularly rare minerals, and also provides a gravity-free environment that has all sorts of uses, ranging from manufacturing to (yes) therapeutic.
The function of NASA in Newt’s plan would be administrative, and NASA would be responsible for coordinating plans, running bidding, making sure regulatory measures don’t put a stop to the whole thing, etc. And of course, keeping the Chinese at bay.
Did you know that an estimated ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS in American capital is parked overseas, held back by the captial gains tax in this country? Gingrich has promised to change that situation.
There is great risk involved in space exploration and no reason to go into space unless it is profitable. As things exist right now, we have an international treaty that blocks us from doing so, one the Chinese are ignoring.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
New Santorum ad hits Gingrich on his idea for a moon colony
Friday, February 03, 2012 12:05:49 PM · 69 of 210
frithguild to SatinDoll
Quote Frithguild:
Nobody here gets it.
Asteroid 1986 DA, just to pick one, contains over 10,000 tons of gold and 100,000 tons of platinum. All of the metals in that body, if delivered in 2010, would have had a value of over $25 trillion. The Moon could contain strikes of similar value. Why has nobody sought this profit?
Nobody looks at the legal blockade to extraterrestrial profits, because they don’t even know it exists. The Johnson administration managed to export the principals of socialism to the entirety of space:
“The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind.” Article I of The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies of 1967.
Ferdinand and Isabella gave Columbus a few sheckles, but it took quite some time before finance evolved enough to put together profit making ventures that yielded boatloads of gold. It is time for us to free space from socialism and allow the cornerston to free enterprise - private property.
I do not favor any large government expenditures for Solyndra on the Moon. I just wish that when the debate tries to revive the excitement of Apollo, that SOMEBODY would say the Outer Space Treaty makes for profit investment IMPOSSIBLE.
Withdraw from the Treaty.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
One average-sized near earth asteroid contains enough platinum group metals to equal the entire world’s gross annual product. That means trillions of dollars each!
There are international conglomerates ready and willing to take the risks and launch into space today, just to reap the potential wealth that can be had by mining, smelting and manufacturing in space.
Five hundred years ago, the world’s two super powers were China’s Ming Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire (in present-day Turkey), and Spain had just begun sending ships to the Western Hemisphere.
If someone had predicted that in the future there would be untold wealth for billions of people, all inititated by an industrial revolution begun in what was then a rustic Europe and a wilderness in North America, that person would have been considered insane.
We’ve possessed the technology to mine, smelt ore, and manufacture in the zero gravity vacuum of space for 35 years, yet that treaty has prevented us from doing so.
Romney and Santorum have no vision for the future. Gingrich has said he will get government out of the way of business and encourage space exploration, which will lead to another industrial revolution.