Indeed, not only is the GOP pitch a gross distortion of the truth, this is one of those all too rare moments where I get to actually prove the meme to be nothing more than another effort to confuse Americans.
In the broadest sense, the history of measuring the universe is an emotional as well as a scientific one: It has proceeded only as fast as the human brain can stomach and digest the truth of how infinitesimally small our place in the universe really is.
As a theoretical matter, moreover, this sorry episode reveals a larger libertarian truth: Collective decisions should be made only when strictly required, which happens when any decision made for one necessarily binds all.