You’re dead on target there.
We should already be on the moon, very close to going to Mars, and elsewhere.
Space is the new high ground.
Whoever controls it, controls a whole lot more than that.
I do think NASA should have been managed better. I’m not happy with the paths we took, and the malaise that crept in.
We should have a robust space program. We should have a massive atomic collider. We should be doing the work of discovering for the next generation of high tech.
These are strategic matters. They are military related, and will have many private sector spin-offs.
We should gut welfare. We should cut it in half in three years, and eliminate it entirely within seven.
We then pay down the debt and utilize savings and new income to do exploration that keeps us strong.
We also need to STOP “free trade”.
Now.