We wrote last year in October about how Perry's Texas Enterprise Fund paid 20 MILLION DOLLARS to Countrywide-not only would Countrywide not tell Texas how many jobs they actually created, but now Countrywide is being bought out by Bank of America (so I guess those taxpayer-funded corporate welfare dollars are mixed into THAT stew now.) Bank of America says it will take over Countrywide's agreement to create jobs. Color me skeptical since the original arrangement was from .... 2004.
Anyway, here's Rick Perry's Corporate Welfare Deal O Day, this time to Rockwell Collins. $1.67 million dollars to create 334 jobs. Look at this.
The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, has about 20,000 employees worldwide and is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Its shares closed at $58.48 Wednesday, up 42 cents.
Serving commercial and government customers, Rockwell Collins made a $585 million profit in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2007, up 23 percent compared with the year before. The company had fiscal 2007 revenue of $4.42 billion, up 14 percent from 2006.
In a worst-case scenario – if Rockwell Collins fails to create any jobs in Texas despite its Enterprise Fund money – the company would have to repay the award to the state, plus interest, said Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Mr. Perry.
You have a company here that is making a huge profit... but they get MORE money from taxpayers? Why? One would think that the enterprise fund ought to go to companies that are not already flush.
However, critics have questioned Mr. Perry's use of public money to lure private-sector investment.
A report last month by Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit group in Austin, said some awards recipients have instead had layoffs in Texas or nationwide, or failed to meet job-creation goals.
"The track record of the state of Texas in picking winning industries and winning companies is mixed at best," said Andrew Wheat, research director at Texans for Public Justice. "And we question whether the state should have any role investing in private business."
One wonders what the criteria is for choosing with business to dole out welfare to.
