Mr. President, the Moon is too far

When then Senator Obama responded to the accusation of raising the "false hopes" from his rival, he said:

“How have we made progress in this country? Look, did John F. Kennedy look at the moon and say ‘Ah, it’s too far. We can’t do that. We need a reality check,’”   (source: Politico)

Seemingly, after the reality check, President Obama deemed that the moon is too far. 

It is probably a right decision, which is more upsetting the decision itself. GOP members still cherish the "The Shining City Upon A Hill" speech by Reagan, but the reality keeps reminding people of the possibility that the United States of America can no longer afford to be the leader of the world. For a nation, the dividends of being a world leader is huge, but at times cost might be even higher and unaffordable. It happened to older empires, Rome or Spain.

Is the moon too far? The money needed to keep the mission alive is several billion dollars per year. Considering the money handed out to bankers, and the number of executives collected more than a billion in the recession years, it is not a big amount. So the question is when it comes to spending, what are the priorities. The answer changes the direction of the nation.