Obama, Union Reps Push NASA Funding

This afternoon in Cocoa, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign joined with union representatives to tout the candidate's pledge to increase NASA funding by about $2 billion, which they said could save jobs on Cape Canaveral.

During a short press conference, they criticized Republican nominee Sen. John McCain's suggestion to temporarily freeze discretionary spending except for defense and veterans programs, a move they they said would presumably freeze NASA's budget.

However, during a visit to Cocoa in August, McCain also promised to bolster NASA's budget by about $2 billion, in an effort to narrow the gap between the shuttle's 2010 retirement and the Constellation program's first manned flights.

Today, Obama's Florida policy director also blasted the Republican National Committee for including increased NASA funding in list of spending proposals that it brands as Obama's "liberal fiscal agenda."

The RNC's Web site says its content is "not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."