Institute for Liberty’s Andrew Langer: Only Innovation Can Re-energize Space Program.

Institute for Liberty’s Andrew Langer Predicts that Only Innovation from Private Sector Can Re-energize America’s Space Program.

Neal Asbury opened the show by proposing that the Obama administration is willing to promote an agenda that is unpopular with the American public and most legislators, including members of his own party. A case in point is the Card Check bill, which gives labor unions the power to create a union through a simple majority via an open vote that intimidates workers. Despite push back from most business sectors, it is alive and well and flying under the radar (card check has been recognized in 1,111 companies), thanks to the President appointing Craig Becker, a union lawyer with deep sympathies for the unions, to head the National Labor Relations Board. This appointment was so unpopular even Democrats voted against Becker when he was first proposed for the NLRB job.

“This is another indication that the Obama administration will do whatever it takes to give unions more power. This despite the fact that only seven percent of private sector workers belong to a union, which have substantially weakened the automobile, transportation and steel industries. We have to reverse this power grab by American unions if the US is going to create more jobs and spur economic recovery,” said Asbury.

Making a return visit to “Truth for America” was Andrew Langer, President of the Institute for Liberty, an advocacy organization dedicated to “fighting the petty tyrannies of government and protecting America’s right to be free,” who proposed that “there is a battle going on to save American small business.”

A long time fighter for small business, Langer contends that most government policy makers do not understand the fundamentals of small business and are destroying entrepreneurship with onerous regulations.

Langer is concerned that NASA has lost its sense of direction but continues to receive Pork payouts, including a proposed $50 billion in new funding for ill-defined uses by NASA. HR 5781, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010, is supported by Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), along with Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and Pete Olson (R-TX).

“Even astronaut Buzz Aldrin opposes this bill. If NASA does not have a destination in mind, it will not get you anywhere. Why are we giving NASA more money when they are outsourcing the current manned space program to Russia? We are essentially funding Russia’s space program,” said Langer.

This has prompted the Institute for Liberty to release a report they call “America’s Technology: Lost in Space.” The report takes NASA to task for halting the space shuttle program and not replacing it with a new manned space program. Now America can only send astronauts to the International Space Station via Chinese or Russian spacecraft.

“America has always been defined by its ingenuity. We have never been second best when it comes to technology. If we do not spend the money to create an R&D program funded by private enterprise, we will not recover our lead in space exploration,” said Langer.

Langer maintained that NASA should not be concentrating its efforts on going back to the moon. He proposed that the moon should only be a stepping stone toward exploration of the solar system, particularly a manned voyage to Mars.
Langer repeated his call for private enterprise to take a leadership position in the US space program, as it did 40 years ago when the shuttle program was first proposed. He believes that today’s high tech entrepreneurs are sitting on billions in assets and might be willing to commit toward playing a role in re-energizing the US space program. He points out that those entrepreneurs who supported the original space program made billions off of the technologies developed during their participation in the NASA program. In fact, entrepreneurs like Richard Branson are making money by offering low level space flights.

“We need a framework for where we want to go with the US space program. It requires a coherent plan that recognizes the role of free enterprise,” concluded Langer.

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Comments
One Response to “Institute for Liberty’s Andrew Langer: Only Innovation Can Re-energize Space Program.”
  1. Russ Rogers says:

    Who wrote this piece? It doesn’t sound like it was written by Neal Asbury. It talks about Asbury in the third person. What’s it about? It seems to start in the middle. Asbury opened what show where?

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