While we're on the subject of governments and their spending addictions… let's not forget another contributor to the red ink: corporate welfare.
This is a long-festering issue at the state and local levels, where local politicians keen on staying in office have made an art of transferring taxpayer money to corporate treasuries. The stated intention is to foster economic development, create jobs, boost this, support that, and give everyone else a pony (probably).
Just as a new report from the group Good Jobs First notes, the biggest corporate welfare deals are truly in a class by themselves. And that's after taking into consideration that the number and cost of blockbuster deals in 2023 was down from the previous year.
The biggest “winner” among corporate welfare recipients last year? Electric car and battery makers:
Eight states announced $5.8 billion of public subsidies in electric vehicle or battery manufacturing facilities this year. Significant investments like Ford's EV factory in Marshall, Michigan, came the same year the UAW organized a stand-up strike against Ford and other large automakers, securing better wages and benefits.
There's a handy chart of the biggest deals the group could find. There are some notable names on the list: Amazon, Ford, General Motors, Tesla, Boeing…all of them hard cases deserving of taxpayer charity, it seems.
And about that Ford deal in Michigan….
The Center for Economic Accountability named it the “worst economic development deal of the year:”
…what truly cemented the project as the Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year was the way Michigan's political establishment responded when Marshall-area residents, small business owners and others affected by the project began expressing their concerns and asking for transparency into their state and local governments' decisions.
In September, the Detroit Free Press broke the story that political groups tied to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spent an estimated $100,000 in “dark money” to run a public relations campaign against local Marshall-area residents who were being inconveniently vocal in their opposition to the deal. The Free Press made the connection between the governor's political allies and the PR campaign because it used consultants, lawyers and even phone numbers tied to Gov. Whitmer's 2022 re-election campaign and the state Democratic Party. Campaign activities included mailing out postcards that used photos of local opponents, as well as robocalls and other professional campaign tactics.
Those who have the temerity to point out the mess, the waste, and that smell…they get what they deserve right?
Of course not. But sending political operatives on seek-and-destroy missions against dissenting taxpayers is just the next logical step in the already squalid corporate welfare game.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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