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Comment by HarryHirsch | Hacker News Reader

Back in the 1950s the US Government built a lot of space infrastructure in the South (Stennis, Redstone &c) to develop the backwards corners of the nation. There's no political will for that any longer, it seems.

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Admitting Puerto Rico as a state, thus enabling Puerto Rico to have representation in congress who could argue for more infra being built there, would likely be critical.

Yep, and removing the Jones Act which causes everything PR imports from the mainland to be dramatically more expensive is a necessary 2nd step too.

We could remove the Jones Act, causing cargo to be carried by ships with lax (affordable) regulation, or we could get a similar cost and regulation result on American ships by adjusting our regulations to worldwide norms.

It's really the same problem as regulating "dirty" and "unsafe" factories out of the USA. We don't get fantasy-world factories in the USA. We just lose jobs and all control, with the products produced in terrible conditions abroad.

So, do we want to suffer the cost of the regulations? If so, simply keep the status quo with the Jones Act. If not, then deal with the problem directly, and eviscerate the regulations that are making Americans uncompetitive.

Unlikely, too much risk PR would be a blue state.

That’s why it will have to be when Dems have both Congress and the executive —- GA run-off is so critical. Since Puerto Rico already passed a referendum on joining the US as a state all it would take is simple majority.

That was far more an artifact of the seniority of certain Southern senators on appropriations committees than any commitment to regional improvement. That seniority was a byproduct of (a) horribly racist voting practices keeping those seats long term in the same hands and (b) no competition.

Yes, tell me all about Richard Shelby (AL). But whatever the reason was, the money did end up in the South and it became less agricultural as a result.

It's kind of crazy how the elimination of pork-barrel stipulations ended up polarizing politics.

The Huntsville area (including Redstone) is booming - there is a lot going on there in terms of space infrastructure. I think Huntsville is on track to surpass Birmingham (the city) as Alabama's largest. Political will is much less important now.

I can't speak to the Stennis Space Center other than to say it needs a new name...

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