[TommyDale]

"With the exceptions of Texas and Florida (barely), every state in the South is a net drain on the Federal budget"

Next time you use your broadband internet connection or digital cable, thank a Southerner for the fiber optic cable you are using. Also, when you see the anti-missile shield, the F-22 and the F-35 aircraft protecting all of us, thank Southerners for that too. What has Minnesota given us besides Scotch Tape?

[MinnesotaLibertarian]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Minnesota

Yeah, you’re right, we don’t contribute anything. Mind you, that’s just one state...you want to look at the Midwest as a whole region, let alone “the North”, forget about it. Also, I find it funny that you chose military aircraft as an example of the great contributions of the South, since that’s funded by government money, which kind of underscore my point. I’m sure some Southern Senator had a lot to do with the location of this manufacturing.

[x]

Next time you use your broadband internet connection or digital cable, thank a Southerner for the fiber optic cable you are using.

So far as I can figure out, that would be Sam DiVita of the US Army Signal Corps Labs in Fort Monmouth New Jersey or Elias Snitzer of American Optical. I thank them, but I don't think either one of them was a Southerner.

A lot of industry and r&d has moved South in recent decades, because we're one country and costs are cheaper down there, but that's hardly a reflection on the Confederacy or the Old South.