Cain: Obama Cut Space Shuttle Program

What do Tea Partiers and LaRouchies have in common? Well it seems to be their viral hatred of the fact that President Obama ended the NASA space shuttle program. At least that is what I read today at the Huffington Post.

It has a familiar ring, doesn’t it? That’s because in the 2010 Texas CD 22 congressional race, Pete Olson’s “Democratic” opponent, Kesha Rogers, an adherent to the belief system promoted by Lyndon LaRouche, had it all in for the president for just this same issue.

Had it in for him as in claiming that it was an impeachable offense.

Here is a video of Herman Cain discussing just this issue.

Here is what the Huffington Post records as his statement on the issue: 

“‘I can tell you that as president of the United States, we are not going to bum a ride to outer space with Russia,’ Cain said to loud applause. ‘We're going to regain our rightful place in terms of technology, space technology.’"

“Cain was talking about U.S. plans, now that the space shuttle is retired, to use Russian rockets to send astronauts to the International Space Station.”

And normally that would make a good story for local consumption, NASA being a very big deal in southeast Texas. It would certainly be an issue with voters here. All except for the fact that the space shuttle program was signed into extinction in 2004 by former President George W. Bush.

But Tea Partiers and LaRouchies are inflamed over this issue despite the fact that sending an astronaut to the International Space Station costs the government $56 million (with an expected rate hike to $63 million in the future), a net cost savings over sending them up on a space shuttle mission.

But there you have it. Cain, a businessman, seems to be all about doing things on the cheap, a Tea Party favorite, but when he gets specific its not WalMart he wants to do his shopping at, it’s Neimann-Marcus.