Obama: Politics not part of NASA space shuttle decisions

President Obama said in an interview with a Houston television station that the city was not snubbed for a retired space shuttle because of politics.

The Obama administration has been sharply criticized by Texas Republicans and Democrats for NASA's decision to give four retiring shuttles to New York, the Washington, D.C. area, Los Angeles and Florida.
 
Speaking with WFAA-TV of Dallas as part of a series of local interviews to tout his deficit-reduction plan, Obama said the idea that the awards were made to politically important states was "wrong."
 
"We had nothing to do with it," Obama said of the decision, which was made by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "The White House had nothing to do it. There was a whole commission, there was a whole process. That's how the decision was made."

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has proposed legislation to overturn Bolden's decision and give the shuttle Enterprise, awarded to New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
 
The measure would leave Discovery at the Smithsonian in the Washington area, Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Endeavour at the California Space Center.
 
In his roughly seven-minute interview with WFAA on Monday, Obama touched on other Texas issues, including the possibility he might contest the state in his 2012 reelection bid. The interviewer pointed out that Obama lost Texas handily in 2008, though the president said it was by just "a few percentage points."
 
"If what you're telling me is that Texas is a conservative state, you're absolutely right," Obama eventually conceded.
 
But he quickly added, "I never write off any states. I love Texas."
 
Obama also criticized Texas Gov. Rick Perry for repeatedly attacking the president’s economic stimulus plan.
 
"Gov. Perry helped balance his budget with about $6 billion worth of federal help — which he happily took — and then started blaming the members of Congress who had offered that help," Obama said.
 
Obama also conducted interviews with TV stations in Denver, Indiana and North Carolina.