Corporate welfare and taxpayer bribes

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This is another example of why it is wrong-headed to give tax dollars to private enterprise. San Antonio, which never got the jobs that were promised, is out the $1M, and the State is out the $15M. These are direct payments, not just tax waivers.

In Minnesota, Northwest is bailing out of their huge facilities that the State helped pay for to "keep jobs in Minnesota." Now, those jobs are gone forever.

In each of these cases, the defense is that the private enterprise needs the flexibility to make competitive choices.

Fine, do it with your own money. Stop taking money out of my pocket.

The executives at WaMu were taking out more money each year in salary, bonus and other compensation than this amount that our cash-strapped state and nearly destitute San Antonio put in. Why didn't the State tell WaMu "hey, I've got a great idea - cut your executive's pay package for ONE YEAR and you'll have the capital that you need."

Why are we doing this? Are we collectively insane?

Decisions like this aren't even taxpayer bribes to corporate enterprise - this is welfare.

How much money was spent on AFDC and WIC in Texas as compared to this huge gift to a company that didn't keep its contract for the money? Why cannot the State and San Antonio demand repayment of the money from Chase as a condition of the takeover?

Because they're blocked from doing so. Because this is WELFARE - this is transferring money raised from people struggling to get by shopping and working at Wal-Mart to multi-multi-millionaires.