Romney Campaign Press Release - Ground Control to Major Newt: Nevada Needs Jobs, Not Moon Colony

Gingrich Has Pledged to Build a Lunar Settlement That Could Cost Up to $500 Billion:

In Florida, Speaker Gingrich Promised To Establish A Permanent Colony On The Moon. "Newt Gingrich told a cheering crowd along Florida's Space Coast late Wednesday that he would establish a permanent colony on the moon, and develop a spacecraft that can get to Mars, by the end of his second term as president. Gingrich, who has long held a fascination with space exploration and has talked extensively about further missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, committed for the first time to pushing aggressively for such programs if he wins the White House." (Amy Gardner, "Gingrich Pledges Moon Colony During Presidency," The Washington Post, 1/25/12)

Gingrich's Plan Could Ultimately Cost Half A Trillion Dollars. "In 2004, when President George W. Bush introduced a space exploration initiative that aimed to establish a base on the moon costs were projected to be about $100 billion through 2020. President Obama, however, canceled the mission in 2010, because it was running behind schedule and was costing too much money. ... John Logsdon, professor emeritus at George Washington University and founder of the school's Space Policy Institute ... says a similar mission today could cost somewhere between $250 billion to $500 billion." (Blake Ellis, "Newt's Moon Colony: What Would It Cost?" CNN, 1/30/12)

Meanwhile — Here on Earth — Nevada is Suffering From a Jobs and Housing Crisis:

Nearly Six In Ten Of Nevada's Mortgaged Homes Are Underwater. "Nevada has the highest negative equity percentage with 58 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (47 percent), Florida (44 percent), Michigan (35 percent) and Georgia (30 percent). This is the first quarter that Georgia entered the top five, surpassing California which had been in the top five since tracking began in 2009." (CoreLogic, Press Release, 11/29/11)

Nevada Is The Only State In The Nation Where Mortgage Debt Outstanding Surpasses The Total Property Value Of All Mortgages Outstanding. ("Q3 2011 Negative Equity By State," CoreLogic, 11/29/11)

Nevada's Unemployment Rate Is 12.6%, Highest Among The States. Nevada's unemployment rate in December 2011 stood at 12.6%, highest among the 50 states and far above the national rate of 8.5%. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 2/2/12)

Newt's Moon Colony is the Latest in a String of Expensive Extraterrestrial Initiatives:

Gingrich Has Suggested Lighting America's Highways At Night Via "A Mirror System In Space [That] Could Provide The Light Equivalent Of Many Full Moons." "'The election of 2012,' Gingrich writes, 'will bring us to an historic crossroads.' More troubling for Mr Gingrich's supporters, at the end of these roads (or, at least, the ones Mr Gingrich chooses to walk down) are big-government solutions. ... He has suggested that 'a mirror system in space could provide the light equivalent of many full moons so that there would be no need for nighttime lighting of the highways.' Practical solutions to America's problems these are not." (The Economist's "Democracy In America" Blog, 12/9/11)

Gingrich Wants The Government To Offer A $20 Billion Prize For A Mission To Mars. "In a glimpse of what his candidacy might look like, [Gingrich] said he would shut down public schools that aren't performing and offer a $20 billion reward for the first private company that successfully completes a Mars mission. 'Somebody would be there and back about 40 percent of the way into the NASA process,' he said." (Ben Evans, "Gingrich Forecasts GOP Losses In 2008," The Associated Press, 6/9/07)

Gingrich Backs Tax Credits For Space Manufacturing And Space Tourism. GINGRICH: "There ought to be tax credits for manufacturing in space and tax credits for developing commercial flights into near space for space tourism so we build a very robust launch program in the private sector." (Gregory Anderson, "A Few Words With Newt Gingrich," The Space Review Blog, 5/15/06)

Washington Post, 1984: Gingrich "Sees A Futuristic World That Includes A Mammoth Industrial Policy For Outer Space." (Myra MacPherson, "Party At The Crossroads," The Washington Post, 8/24/84)

While In Congress, Gingrich Introduced A Bill Establishing Thresholds For Admission To Statehood And Other Governing Provisions For U.S. Territories Outside Of Planet Earth. "CRS Summary: ... Establishes a comprehensive national civilian space and aeronautics policy to provide the basis for a world information system, earth orbital facilities, exploration of the solar system, and the development of other space and aeronautical activities. ... Title IV: Government of Space Territories — Sets forth provisions for the government of space territories, including constitutional protections, the right to self-government, and admission to statehood." (H.R. 4286, Introduced 7/28/81)

Gingrich's "Grandiose" Ideas Would Result in Massive Increases in Government Spending and Worsen the Deficit:

National Journal: "A Gingrich Administration Could Be Expensive." "Newt Gingrich has branded himself a visionary politician since his days in Congress and prides himself on his grand — some would say even grandiose — ideas for transforming the nation. That propensity to think big extends to all parts of his presidential platform, from tax reform to the space race, and occasionally puts him at odds with his party's resolve to slash government spending." (Naureen Khan and Julia Edwards, "A Gingrich Administration Could Be Expensive," National Journal, 1/31/12)

Gingrich's Fiscal Plan Would Add Substantially To The Already Massive Federal Deficit. "The tax plan proposed by Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich would add $1.3 trillion to the U.S. budget deficit in 2015 alone, a new analysis shows, complicating his goal of balancing the government's books. ... Gingrich's plan would leave enough money to cover the cost of so-called mandatory spending ... Dedicating the money for those purposes wouldn't leave any funds for defense spending or any other federal agency." ("Gingrich Tax Plan Would Add $1.3 Trillion to Deficit, Study Says," Bloomberg, 12/13/11)