HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 6, 2010, 10:41PM
Recent reports that the White House used federal appointments as bait to try to dissuade challengers from running in primaries against Democratic incumbents have called into question President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to pursue a new — and cleaner — brand of politics.
As the administration prepares to revamp the manned space program by canceling the Constellation moon missions, mothballing the space shuttles and turning to private companies to develop new spacecraft, crass political considerations also seem to be influencing the distribution of assistance to NASA workers who will be laid off during the transition.
Last week, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to announce a $15 million grant to aid aerospace workers in finding new employment. According to Solis, “These hardworking Americans need and deserve our support.”
A parade of administration officials, starting with the president, has gone to Florida to promise federal assistance. In a speech at KSC, where some 20,000 NASA and contract workers are affected, Obama pledged an additional $40 million in job assistance. No such consideration has been shown toward other NASA facilities around the country, including the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake. It stands to lose up to 7,000 NASA and contractor jobs.
We smell the stench of political favoritism in the consideration lavished by the administration upon Florida, a presidential swing state, while facilities in Alabama and Texas, two reliable GOP strongholds, are ignored. Houston Mayor Annise Parker says she’s “very concerned that the president is focused on Kennedy Space Center in Florida and has not indicated that he is paying attention to Johnson Space Center.” The head of the Bay Area Economic Partnership, Bob Mitchell, called the Solis grant announcement a political statement by the White House.
Playing politics can cut both ways. Houston and Harris County went for Obama two years ago, in the process boosting Democrats to victory in countywide races for the first time in more than a decade. If NASA’s Texas workforce continues to get the cold shoulder, the president’s party may get some payback at the polls come November.
