Who Broke Obama's Promise to Space Coast?

Who cost the Space Coast $40 million in jobs transition aid?

That's the question posed by Florida Today columnist Matt Reed in today's edition.

... A murkier picture — one of neglect and fallout from political brinkmanship — emerges from a retracing of activities surrounding the Presidential Task Force on Space Industry Workforce & Economic Development.

A representative from local Republican congressman Bill Posey blames Obama for not reaching out to him:

"There was no point person to put it in any budget," Posey spokesman George Cecala said of the $40 million. "This was not our initiative. If the president had reached out, we could have helped."

This would be the same Congressman Posey who in 2009 introduced the so-called "birther bill" shortly after both he and Obama took office.

As for Rep. Sandy Adams, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center:

Republican Rep. Sandy Adams, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center and Titusville, never Weighed in publicly on the $40 Million, and her office did not respond to a request for comment last week.

Adams voted against the April 8 compromise, not because of NASA, but because Congress didn't cut deep enough, she said in a prepared statement.

The article concludes:

White House spokeswoman Hannah August stressed Friday that Obama has also proposed much bigger initiatives in Brevard, including $4.25 billion over five years to develop human spaceflight on commercial spacecraft from the Cape to the International Space Station.

True, that's much bigger and possibly more important than the $40 million for a few clean-energy startups or a spec building for a research lab.

But a promise kept by Washington to the Space Coast would have proved significant nonetheless.