Sputnik Moment?

President Obama's State of the Union address last week contained the following passage:

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. NASA didn't even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.

This is our generation's Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven't seen since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We'll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.

Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy.

Already? We've been promised the promise of renewable energy for nearly four decades. Government involvement in subsidizing these technologies helped to create the ethanol boondoggle. Government has a poor history of picking technologies because its decisions are not based on viability, but politics.

It's true that government put a man on the moon - and that was indeed a great thing. Exploration into the unknown is one of the few endeavors in man's history where government is better equipped than the private sector. The expense is enormous and the risks huge. Fifteenth Century Portuguese exploration around the Cape of Good Hope was driven by Prince Henry the Navigator. Columbus's journey was funded by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Once the path had been opened, privately funded endeavors followed. The same is beginning to happen today as we enter the era of for-profit space travel.

Nevertheless, the left will be citing Sputnik and the Moon Shot for the next millennium as a justification for their big government spending programs ('we needed government to put a man on the moon, now we need government for X'). However, big government programs are only justified for a narrow range of focused projects. President Obama's speech didn't contain one. This is not a Sputnik moment. It is out generation's duty to end deficit spending instead. It might not be as glamorous, but it's of vital importance.