While I'm an avid supporter of space exploration, it is not the cure for our economic stagnation. Much better are infrastructure improvements: replacing aging bridges, high speed rail, high speed communications, electrical transmission lines. Better to support solar, wind and nuclear energy than to wage wars in the middle east.
A concerted national effort on removing our dependence on foreign energy resources would be a beneficial way to target our resources for the next 30 years or so.
You missed my point. Sure, space exploration won't cure our economic stagnation in the 1 to 30 years time frame. But it will decide if we are a first, second, or third-rate power in the next 100 years.
