Valin Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 WSJ: Tax cuts and regulatory reforms are increasing investment on the island MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY 2/12/12 Old San Juan, Puerto Rico So Mitt Romney doesn't "care about the very poor." But what about the rest of the American political class who jumped all over him for his recent gaffe? Its loud protestations aside, how truly interested is Washington in reducing poverty? That question occurred to me during an interview with Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuño here 10 days ago. If his plan to boost the island's competitiveness by switching electricity generation from oil to natural gas is to succeed, he's going to need relief from the pernicious 1920 Jones Act. It prohibits any ship not made in the U.S. from carrying cargo between U.S. ports. There are no liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) tankers made in the U.S. Unless Puerto Rico gets a Jones Act exemption, it cannot take advantage of the U.S. natural gas bonanza to make itself more competitive. (Snip) Mr. Fortuño says that he expects Washington to give him a carve-out for LNG tankers, but he doesn't have it yet. He also says that a large part of the environmentalist push-back is political, suggesting to me that he ought to be more worried than he is. This kind of politics needs to preserve the status quo of the welfare state. And that implies blocking Mr. Fortuño's development agenda no matter what it means to the poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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