Unfolding debacle at Spaceport America

Today’s Albuquerque Journal has an excellent article on the major issues developing at Spaceport America. We at the Rio Grande Foundation have long opposed the project as being outside the appropriate scope of basic government services and a massive transfer from average New Mexicans to millionaires and billionaires.

We should have added to that criticism the fact that government is incompetent, particularly when it comes to doing something completely “new” like building a one-of-its-kind spaceport. As the Journal reports, the project has been delayed by more than a year (to date), costly modifications have been made, weather damage has occurred, and contractors are not being paid on time.

The Spaceport (like the RailRunner) is yet another “gift” from Gov. Richardson to the taxpayers of New Mexico. The project may eventually be built, but taxpayers should never have been put on the hook for a speculative project like this one. Private capital should be put at risk. One might expect that defending the poor and middle classes from wealthy shysters would be the “liberal” position, but they only want to raise taxes.