If you don't understand Newt's position on space and how it effects American exceptionalism and drives our science and technology -- best go find out instead of using soundbites and snippets taken out of context.
He got that from a David Brooks article that indicates Newt had thrown that idea out as an example of what physics could be used to accomplish a task, not necesarilly a “proposal”
If you can’t understand that a country who borrows almost 50% of every dollar it spends, can’t afford to ring the earth with giant space mirrors to combat the fairy tale of man-made global warming, or that a nation on the verge of bankruptcy can’t afford the trillions it would take to make us feel “Exceptional” with a small moon base, then maybe you should buy a calculator.
If Newt had a plan to return us to solvency, instead of digging the hole deeper with his loony space plans, I would be more impressed. (I guess we may miss out on the next Tang).